“In my opinion, the Russians believed that the Ukrainians were not going to break through this defense line. They have done everything for the past more than a year to ensure that this area is well protected,” the commander noted. He explained that Russian forces spent 60 percent of their time and resources on building the first line of defense and only 20 percent on the second and third lines. Ukrainian troops are advancing on both sides of the breakthrough and are entrenched in the retaken areas.
Most of the Ukrainian armed forces are currently between the first and second Russian lines of defense. “The focus of the offensive is now the destruction of enemy units covering the withdrawal of Russian troops behind the second line of defense,” he said.
Tarnavsky emphasized that the counterattack was hindered by the huge minefield built by the Russians. Behind him, the Russian troops “simply stood and waited for the Ukrainian army”. “As soon as any Ukrainian military equipment appeared there (on the first defense line), the Russians immediately opened fire on it.
Therefore, demining was carried out only by infantry and only at night,” he explained. According to his words, now that the minefield at the first line of defense has been eliminated, the Russians are forced to maneuver and regroup their forces. “The enemy is gathering reserves not only from Ukraine, but also from Russia,” he emphasized. Tarnavskyi added that he is sure that sooner or later the Russians will not have enough power, explaining that the second line is not so well built, so the Ukrainians can use their military equipment there, even though there are still mined parts in that area.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office informed on Telegram that the Russian forces fired artillery at the city of Seredina-Buda in the Sumy county in the northeastern part of the country, while the Ukrainian law enforcement officers were documenting the circumstances of the previous shelling by the Russian army. One policeman was killed and two others were taken to hospital with injuries. A civilian was also injured in the attack.
According to the latest summation of the Ukrainian General Staff on Sunday, the casualties of the Russian army in Ukraine increased by about six hundred to 264,660. On Saturday, Ukrainian forces destroyed, among other things, five Russian tanks, 22 artillery and one anti-aircraft gun, as well as 11 drones.
Cover image source: Getty Images
