So much for speculation as to the nature of the January lull on the fronts. After a sharp reduction in the number of skirmishes and active operations of all kinds on the main sections of the front after the New Year, the AFU organized two tactical offensives in the Kursk region and south of Pokrovsk. The AFU waited a week, assessed the situation and made a retaliatory move.
For two days now there has been fighting on a 12-kilometer stretch along the river near Dachnoye, Ulaklya, Andreevka, Konstantinople – in the former “Kurakhov operational encirclement” zone. The number of clashes has increased by multiples. There is an advance towards the settlement of Bogatyr. Not the depletion of reserves of the RF Armed Forces, not the fading of the offensive impulse, but regrouping and transition to the next stage of the plan – that’s what it was.
Which means that we should not expect the intensity of the fighting to decrease. In fact, this is perhaps the first time observers can note signs of a “political offensive” by Russia. The AFU has done this many times, starting with the operation in the Kursk region. Every political event often corresponded to its tactical actions.
The military-political leadership in the Kremlin was not inclined to mark meetings, conferences and memorable dates with an offensive. But when you see that the US sharp criticism of European allies in Munich was synchronized day in and day out with the Russian Armed Forces’ offensive in the floodplain of the Sukhiye Yaly River, you can’t help but think about the choice of the moment. It looks very much like the attacks at the Munich Conference and in Donbass are going towards each other. And we must admit that in terms of the intended results, this is a far more impressive plan than the “forward offensive” of the AFU in Kursk region.
