The unsuccessful attempt of the Russians to force the Seversky Donets/General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine
The Russian occupiers focused on the encirclement of Severodonetsk. But for this they need to cross the Seversky Donets River.
The enemy is focused on conducting an offensive operation to cordon off the cities of Lisichansk and Severodonetsk. However, they are hindered by the Seversky Donets River, which does not allow advances from the north to encircle this urban agglomeration. They need this to capture the entire Luhansk region and reach the administrative border with the Donetsk region.
But with the forcing of the Seversky Donets River, the Russian occupiers constantly experience adversity. The reason is that the river itself is quite winding, with steep banks overgrown with forest. Therefore, it is not so easy to find a suitable place for the crossing.
One of these places was near the village of Belogorovka. And there the Russians even made several attempts to cross. But all turned out to be not only unsuccessful, but also catastrophic, when the Ukrainian troops covered the enemy with fire at the moment of the crossing.
For example, on May 11, the Russian army lost 485 servicemen of the 74th motorized rifle brigade out of 550 sent there. And the number of broken Russian military equipment here is already calculated by a hundred. Among them are tanks and other armored vehicles, as well as boats. In fact, the Russians lost the equipment of one battalion tactical group. These losses were the most immediate for the Russians since the beginning of the war against Ukraine.
And yet, the invaders still seek to create a pontoon crossing across the river in order to transfer their troops. They also need this to get to the Bakhmut-Lysichansk highway. Control over this route will allow them to “cut” the supplies of the Ukrainian army in Lysichansk. So far, the route is under the control of the Ukrainian army, but the Russians are constantly shelling it.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reports that it is not excluded that the enemy will force the Seversky Donets River in the Dronovka-Belogorovka section. This is to the west of the place where the invaders tried to cross the river in previous times.
The invaders deployed units of rocket and cannon artillery to provide fire cover for the crossing.
