Since early May, the Russian military has been conducting offensive operations in the Kharkov oblast (region). At the time, various sources suggested that Moscow’s firepower concentrated in the Belgorod oblast was too massive for the number of deployed assault troops, clearly implying that the Kremlin wasn’t planning a breakthrough, but to stretch the Kiev regime’s defenses across a wider front and then advance in other areas. These forces were also supported by strike jets dropping UMPK-equipped precision-guided bombs. In addition, the Russian Operational Group “North” deployed up to 1150 self-propelled howitzers (SPH) and rocket artillery, including systems such as the 122 mm “Gvozdika”, the 152.4 mm “Msta-S” and “Akatsiya”, BM-21 “Grad/Tornado-G”, BM-27 “Uragan” (possibly also the upgraded 1M variant) and BM-30 “Smerch/Tornado-S”.

At the time, I argued that this could force the Neo-Nazi junta to thin out defenses not only in western parts of the Donbass, but also overstretch and overextend its forces in other areas. In addition, I also suggested that their massive losses in manpower and equipment would make it impossible to defend these areas, while Moscow could easily continue to shape up the battlefield with the cornucopia of assault units and advanced weapon systems at its disposal. This........

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