Frontline report: Ukrainian forces adjust strategy, push forward in Zaporizhzhia’s Orikhiv direction

Day 471: Jun 09

Today there is a lot of good news from the Orikhiv direction.

When it comes to the main direction of attack, first of all, today, Ukrainian sources reported that battalion and brigade commanders had a meeting with higher-level commanders specifically to communicate the solutions to the problems that they encountered in the first days, and it was confirmed that all plans were adjusted. One of the lower-level commanders said that mistakes were inevitable at the beginning because it was simply impossible to predict everything on paper. He said that one of the things that they implemented is a new approach to engineering reconnaissance, and Russian mines have already become a lesser problem.

Ukrainians forces also received a lot of critique for not using mine rollers, however, it turned out the initial Russian footage just did not include Ukrainian mine rollers to show the enemy in a bad light. Recent footage confirms that Ukrainians did not attack unprepared.

So how many Leopard tanks did Ukraine lose near Mala Tokmachka?

Today Ukrainians also confirmed that they successfully evacuated Leopard tanks, and most of them had minor damage, so Ukrainians quickly changed the road wheels and tracks, and the tanks were ready for use. And Ukrainians managed to evacuate those tanks from the front line because in the aftermath of yesterday’s battle, the front line shifted by up to 3 km.

Over the last 3 days, Russian sources were continuously reporting that even though Ukrainians managed to take several positions, their attacks were repelled, and later all lost positions were recaptured. However, if we look at these Russian maps, we can that see that over the last 3 days, the front line shifted south significantly. In fact, Ukrainians managed to penetrate a 16 km wide front by up to 3 km.

And this is consistent with the reports that Ukrainians managed to get very close to Robotyne and also capture tactical heights because if we look at the topographic map, we can see that Ukrainians captured precisely the hill that we discussed yesterday, even according to Russian maps. This is also consistent with reports of Ukrainian fighters who claimed that they now have direct visual control of the main Russian strongholds.

Recently a Russian commander elaborated on the Russian tactics. The goal of the first line of defense is to exhaust Ukrainian attackers and, if the attack it too intense, retreat to the second line. Once Ukrainian attackers exhaust their offensive capabilities, Russians deploy their reserves, counterattack the exhausted Ukrainians and recapture all the positions. It seems like, so far, the second part of the plan did not really work.

One of the reasons why it doesn’t work is that after the attack, Ukrainians use Remote Anti-Armor Mine systems or RAAM to distantly mine the roads that are used by Russian reserves. RAAM is a specialist artillery shell that scatters anti-armor mines up 17 km away from the firing unit. Today Russian sources reported that Ukrainians managed to mine all the main Russian roads between Robotyne and Verbove, which is exactly where Ukrainians are trying to advance.

Several hours ago, Russian sources reported that Ukrainians launched artillery preparation, which is why they are preparing to face yet another wave of attack at night. Russian sources complained that Ukrainians switched to night attacks because Western equipment gives them the edge on the battlefield at night.

The Head of one of the Russian organizations for the inspection and supplies of weapons, Rogozin, stated that he does not share the enthusiasm around the reports of the Ukrainian defeat. He said that Ukrainians have accumulated 600 tanks in the Orikhiv direction and that we are yet to see the main phase of the counteroffensive operation.

In our daily frontline report, we pair up with the military blogger Reporting from Ukraine to keep you informed about what’s happening on the battlefield in the Russo-Ukrainian war.

Read also: