The Dneiper is a large river and not easy to ford. In Kherson area there are only two bridges across Dneiper: one in Kherson, which is easy to be destroyed; the other one in Nova Kakhovka, however, is built on a dam.
Neither side would dare to destory the Nova Kakhovka dam, especially the Russians, since the southern bank of Dneiper is LOWER than its northern bank, and blowing the dam up will only flood the Russians themselves.
With the 70 km range GMLRS soon to be deployed, Ukrainian Army will soon have the capability to destroy/disable the Dneiper bridge at Kherson. This will make Nova Kakhovka the nexus of all Russian forces north of Dniper.
Russians know the importance of Nova Kakhovka. On Feb 24, the Russian 31st Landing Assault Brigade launched an swift and elegant air assault to capture this undefended town. That was one major factor for the collapse of Ukr defense line in the south.
And this is the reason that both sides have now concentrate their efforts for Nova Kakhovka - the Ukr counteroffensive at Davydiv Brid has met stubborn Russian resistance that prevented the Ukrainians from exploiting the initial breakthrough.
Now, Nova Kakhovka was hit. Whether it was from Ukr artillery, missiles or saboteurs, it will make the Russian 49th Army and 22nd Army Corps seriously considering the security of its only reliable line of communications and possible retreat route. /End
Correction: the 11th Landing Assault Brigade, not the 31st.
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Why T-62s?
In late May there are solid evidence shows the Russian Army are transporting T-62M and T-62MVs to the front.
People may ask: "The T-62 is a vintage tank introduced in the 1960s and why is it still in storage and put into use?"
The answer is: Russian Army was operating T-62s in active service as late as many can image: the early 2010s. And the T-62s, last produced in 1975, remain as the highnest readiness type in Russian tank storage.
In the 1980s, dawn of the Cold War, the T-62s have been withdrawn from first-line Soviet divisions. By that time the tank was mainly operated in USSR's Asian part, e.g. the Turkestan MD, the Transbaikal MD, and the Far Eastern MD.
As of March 15, the Russian 1st GTA reported 62 losses of its T-80U/UK/UE fleet. Given that the (12th and 13th tank regiment of the 4TD of the) 1st GTA is the sole user of the T-80U series tank, it gives us an unique chance to verify the data of @oryxspioenkop and his team. 1/n
There are currently 75 recorded Russian T-80U series lost per Oryx. Many pro-Rus guys (espicially in our Chinese-speaking world) would argue "there is a lot of duplications!" even through they can't point out which records are duplicated. 2/n
The loss of Russian T-80Us can be devided into three time periods: 1) the lost during the offensive maneuver of the 1GTA in Sumy from Fe b 24 to March 22; 2) during the Ukr counterattack at Trokstyanets from Mar 23-25; and 3) during the battle of Izyum in April. 3/n
Ukrainian Defense Intelligence @DI_Ukraine released a captured OpOrd by the 1st Guards Tank Army to the 96th Ind. Recon Brigade on February 23rd, 2022. I strongly recommend this file since it is PURE GOLD to understand Ru conceptions of the invasion. gur.gov.ua/content/rosiia…
@DI_Ukraine First, this file reveals (one of)the front-level commands of the Russian invasion force, imeni "Group of Forces 'Center'". This Group of Forces Cmd apprently operated in Chernikiv-Konotop-Sumy and their vehicles are "O"-marked.
@DI_Ukraine Apparently the GFC was composed of the 41st Army (+90th GTD), 2nd Guards Army, 1st Guards Tank Army and (propably) the 6th Army. They decided that a total of 11 Ukr battalions from the 1st Tbr, 72nd mbr and 58th mpbr, and 2 MRL battalions are comfronting them.
Thread. How can you take a settlement of 10k ppl with a rifle platoon? Normal commanders would say "no can do", crazy cmdrs may say "just charge them". Where Russian cmdrs will say: "if we strengthen our platoon with 30 tanks, 24 artillery pieces, it may perform better"...(1/n)
Ukrainian Defense Intelligence Agency @DI_Ukraine is making progress in "doxxing" Russian military unit personnel participated in the invasion. By now three RU Ground Forces combat units are included: (2/n)
The 37th Motor Rifle Brigade (omsbr) and thr 5th Guards Tank Brigade from the Eastern MD (link), the 136th Motor Rifle Brigade from the Southern MD, and the 1st Guards Tank Regiment, 2nd Guards Motor Rifle Division of the Western MD. (3/n) gur.gov.ua/content/voenno…
Thread. Open Source effort from @oryxspioenkop has tallied a total of 467 Russian tanks have been visual confirmed lost since 2/24. So how bad is it? (1/n)
Many, including a certain "evidence-based only" sources would argue that the Russian Federation is operating some 10,000 tanks so 467 is "but a scratch". Which is certainly not true. (2/n)
Their mistake is that the bulk of these "10,000 tanks" are not in a status that can be operated by the Russian troops. There are just not enough units to operate them. (3/n)