Recently, the Russian army has finally begun another offensive in the Kharkiv direction; Judging by the actual actions of the Russian army's northern cluster, it is clear that it is coming for the purpose of creating a security zone.
Of course, this security zone is naturally unlikely to be done on the entire northern front, after all, there is a "security zone" on the 1,000-kilometer front, and the number of troops required is huge, which will seriously affect the current operations of the Russian army.
But what if it is to solve the problem of safe zones in key areas? It's a real possibility.
In particular, Belgorod has long been within the range of long-range artillery fire of the Ukrainian army, and the long-term shelling and harassment have made the local Russian people miserable, and it is very necessary for the Russian army to solve the security problem of Belgorod, and this is also a specific action to implement Putin's instructions two months ago.
But even if it is to ensure the security zone in the key direction, the Russian army still has to face the problem of tight troops.
Because the northern cluster needs to be responsible for the entire 1,000-kilometer front, the field mobile forces it can concentrate are only 20,000 or 30,000 at most, and it is not enough for these troops to carry out a major battle of frontal battlefield intensity, and many of these troops are still newly formed units, so the Russian army must "economize" in the use of troops.
So after the start of this Kharkiv offensive, we will find that the actual scale of the Russian army's contribution is very small, so far it is only a few battalions.
However, it should be noted that a large number of artillery units and the Aerospace Forces formed by the Russian army have been very supportive, and the Russian army has also invested quite strong UAV forces in the Kharkiv direction; With the help of the advantages of fighting on the Russian mainland, the Russian army's firepower was very ferocious.
This mode of combat is quite a bit of a high-tech war with firepower as the main battle, supplemented by infantry, and the long-range artillery fire of the Russian army focuses on the bridges, supply points, and assembly areas of the Ukrainian army; UAVs are specialized in the technical strength of artillery, tanks, and armored vehicles of the Ukrainian army.
The use of large-scale gliding guided bombs and drones is difficult for the Ukrainian army to adapt to for a while, which accelerates its collapse and, accordingly, plays a good role in supporting the infantry.
In addition, another major advantage of the Russian army fighting in Kharkov is that the West restricts Western-style equipment to fight on the Russian mainland; Although the Ukrainian army also used it secretly, it really did not dare to use it openly and on a large scale.
This makes the Ukrainian army itself withstand stronger Russian firepower, but it cannot pose a threat to the Russian army's deep assembly areas, transfer points, arsenals, and command posts.
The Russian army can quite calmly complete the assembly, transportation, and grouping, and launch a surprise attack.
In this special context, the northern cluster of the Russian army advanced with a small number of troops and created a safe zone, which not only prevented the Ukrainian army from infiltrating the Russian mainland, but also greatly reduced the threat of Ukrainian artillery fire to the city of Belgorod, and the probability of its success is very high.
Of course, eating a few villages along the border is not enough to meet the needs of the security zone; The Russian army needs to occupy a number of fulcrums near the border line, such as Liptsy in front of the Russian army on the western route and Voltsaskk in front of the Russian army on the eastern road.
In addition, since it is a safe zone, it cannot be a piece of it, it needs to be connected.
Therefore, after the Russian army breaks through on the east and west roads, it will carry out a surprise attack in the middle to complete the creation of the entire security zone.
And the Russian army is likely to eat the Ukrainian army's defensive area on the Lipzi-Vesele-Rubizhne line and transform it for its own use; After taking Voltsaskk in the eastern direction, and then seizing a certain buffer zone by a forward assault, the basic needs of the entire security zone were established.
At this point, the Russian army can retreat to the security zone and complete the problem of defending the border; It is possible to make a further breakthrough, form a threat of conventional artillery fire to Kharkov, and open up contact with the Kupyansk direction.