Full-scale operation – the Ground Forces assessed the effectiveness of Russian volunteers

< p _ngcontent-sc90 class="news-annotation">Russian volunteers carried out raids the previous two times. They are now armed with heavy armored vehicles and artillery. The fighters have occupied bridgeheads and are holding them in the Kursk and Belgorod regions. That is, they are conducting a large-scale operation.

About this 24 Channel said the Chairman of the Council of Reservists of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Ivan Tymochko, noting that the Russians are trying to counteract their actions by attracting aviation and military units that are stationed in the Belgorod and Kursk regions.

The offensive was unexpected

The Ground Forces noted that two to three weeks before the start of the operation carried out by volunteers in Russia, Vladimir Putin created two separate military districts near the Baltic – Leningrad and Moscow. The head of the Kremlin wanted to improve the available forces and means in order to make communication between individual units more mobile in order to repel a potential threat from NATO countries.

The Russian president was preparing for war with the North Atlantic Alliance, but missed an offensive from a completely different direction, where raids had previously been carried out. Therefore, it was quite logical that some kind of fighting could potentially break out in the Kursk and Belgorod regions. As they say: “If you want to hide something, put it in front of your eyes.” Putin “painted a picture” of the war with NATO so much that even his intelligence services did not see what was being prepared in front of their noses.

This is very powerful , an interesting and strategically calculated full-scale military operation, which at this stage is successful. She is really thoughtful and organized. Nobody denies this. How important is this for Putin? In his speeches, he talks about how they will destroy volunteers, how they will defeat them. If he did not perceive them as a serious threat, there would be no mention of them. And before the elections, this is a wonderful blow to Russian pride,” Tymochko emphasized.

The head of the Kremlin has always tried to demonstrate stability, that he knows how to win, that only with him will Russia reach all its heights. However, the operation of Russian volunteers seriously damaged all the narratives that were written to create the image of Putin. The Russian president even hastily recorded his speech, because he understands that the Russian army cannot seize the initiative and at the time of his inauguration, instead of a magnificent picture, they can show columns of exhausted refugees fleeing the Belgorod and Kursk regions.

How the Kremlin will try to counteract volunteer formations

Timochko noted that the operation of Russian volunteers demonstrated that Putin does not control the situation in Ukraine, that the “authoritative” FSB failed to calculate the offensive of the liberators of Russia, of whom in fact there are not several hundred, but several thousand. Since the fighters are not only attacking Russian positions, but also have built a logistics network on the territory of the aggressor country, storing ammunition and transporting the wounded to the rear.

At this stage, Putin has a choice – either to put up with what is happening, or to remove some part of the linear units that are located on the front line directly on the occupied territory of Ukraine and transfer them to the direction of the Belgorod and Kursk regions, noted Ivan Tymochko.

However, as it turned out, Vladimir Putin does not even do this. This is influenced by several factors:

• it is difficult for the Russians to remove units from any direction, since the head of the Kremlin is afraid that the fighting in the Belgorod and Kursk regions is a diversionary blow, and the main one could happen in the occupied territory;
• in depth Russia has few trained and organized units that can adequately oppose themselves to motivated Russian volunteers.

According to Tymochko, Russia will try to accumulate forces and facilities. Russian authorities can raise local militias and carry out rapid mobilization en masse in combat areas. By the way, this may become a reason for Putin, under the cover of an operation, to begin to carry out a general large-scale mobilization, which is extremely unprestigious and is not accepted by the Russian population.

Latest news about the operation of Russian volunteers

• The Russian Volunteer Corps, the Siberian Battalion and the Freedom of Russia Legion published data on losses Russian armies in battles in the Kursk and Belgorod regions. According to a statement by Russian volunteers, from March 12 to 18, 613 regular Russian army personnel were liquidated in the Kursk and Belgorod regions. Sanitary losses amounted to 829 people, and another 29 soldiers were captured. Putin is not able to control the situation even in an important period for himself.
• On the evening of March 18, explosions occurred in the Belgorod region. Before that, Russian volunteers called on residents of Belgorod to immediately evacuate or take shelter in shelters. The fighters announced that they would strike military targets in the city.