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🟠 EXCLUSIVE Strategic Updates on Patreon: 🔵 EXCLUSIVE Strategic Updates on YouTube Membership: 🔴 Support via Online Store: 🔵 Support via Thanks button donation under the video (next to “like“ and “share“) 🟡 Support via 1-time donation: I am Ukrainian. My country has been invaded by Russia. In this video, I will tell you what happened on the seven-hundred-thirty-five day of the war. Day 735: Feb 28 Today, there are a lot of updates from the Kurakhove direction. Here, in order to reach Kurakhove, which is the main stronghold and logistical center in the region, Russian forces are conducting an offensive operation along the eastern part of the front line. The reason why Russian forces shifted their activity from the southern line near Vuhledar to the eastern line near Novomykhailivka lies in the topography of the region. Instead of trying to breach the impregnable fortress Vuhledar located on the hills, Russian forces opened axes of attack along these hills to mitigate tactical disadvantages and bypass Vuhledar from the north. In principle, this should have allowed for a consistent, faster movement through the fields toward Kurakhove. However, Russian forces quickly bumped into a formidable obstacle in the field in the form of a long line of settlements, with the village of Novomykhailivka being the first in their way. The frontal attacks on the settlement yielded limited results, and Russian progress was quickly halted. The main reason why Russian forces struggled to push Ukrainians out of the village with brute force was the fact that Ukrainians had much better logistics. This allowed Ukrainians to deliver supplies of ammunition from proximate villages with relative ease and conduct counterattacks as soon as the strength of the Russian assault units sufficiently dropped in the aftermath of continued operations. The Russian commanders were forced to reevaluate the situation and find a way to undermine Ukraine's defensive capabilities in this region. In order to achieve this, Russian forces set an objective to cut Ukrainian supplies to the village by advancing from the flanks. The most intense clashes have been taking place on the northern flank. The main objective of the Russian forces in this area is to capture the village of Pobieda and use it to boost their logistical capabilities to accelerate the rate of advancement on the northern flank and subsequently cut Ukrainian supply roads west of Novomykhailivka. Russian forces have been trying to take Pobieda for more than two years now. The main problem that Russian forces previously faced was Ukrainian counterattacks from Marinka. However, after the last Ukrainian troops withdrew from Marinka more than two months ago, Russian forces effectively secured their flanks and could start attacking Pobieda from a much more tactically advantageous position. While previously Russians had to attack it from the fields, suffering from mines and crossfire, now Russians can use the highway for rapid mechanized assaults directly from Marinka. Russian sources reported that in order to undermine the Ukrainian defense inside the village, apart from regular artillery, Russian forces also engaged heavy thermobaric artillery systems. Once the artillery preparation was over, Russians started launching mechanized assaults. Geolocated combat footage released by Russian sources shows how Russian armored fighting vehicles are using machine guns to suppress Ukrainian fire while the Russian infantry is landing. Once the infantry landed, the armored fighting vehicle left the scene to avoid Ukrainian ATGM and drone fire. This was not the first Russian assault, and it was also far from the last one. Ukrainians understood the importance of holding this position and resisted the Russian assaults as much as possible. However, after several days of non-stop clashes, Russian forces managed to establish a limited presence on the eastern outskirts of the village. According to Russian sources, Russian forces managed to get a hold of the farms located on the eastern side of the road. Digging in on the outskirts simplified further offensive efforts, as they could provide fire support and amplify mechanized attacks from the north. As a result, one of the Russian attack groups managed to use this additional fire support effectively and get to the northern part of the village, and later the southern part as well, where they put the red flag. Ukrainian sources confirmed the Russian presence but noted that there was a possibility for a counterattack. Russian analysts came to the same conclusion and claimed that Ukrainians will definitely attempt to reestablish control over this tactically important settlement in the short term.
