"The night is dark and full of terrors"
— GeoConfirmed (@GeoConfirmed) June 9, 2023
For the third night in a row: Russian chatter is about resumed offensive operations by the Ukrainians, during the night, in the Zaporizhzhia area.
Some important remarks:
- Almost all footage is spread by Russian sources, so focused on… pic.twitter.com/CfzleiQZHV
"The night is dark and full of terrors"
For the third night in a row: Russian chatter is about resumed offensive operations by the Ukrainians, during the night, in the Zaporizhzhia area.
Some important remarks:
- Almost all footage is spread by Russian sources, so focused on Ukrainian losses, of course.
Most losses were already a few days old and/or some were known losses shown from another perspective.
The losses also sometimes show that the Ukrainians are further South than expected.
Where you see one vehicle, there were more that were not affected...
- Today, Ukraine released some footage from both southern directions:
In the last 3 days, Ukraine managed to destroy 2x TOS-1A, one in Velyka Novosilka Axis and one in Bakhmut Axis. This was unseen previously during this war.
This helps us determine that Ukrainians are tight on OPSEC, but the little footage they released shows that more is going on.
- The amount of destroyed vehicles:
Ukraine has received thousands of vehicles, one thousand+ vehicles for the new brigades, "The Nine", alone.
This is conventional warfare against a layered defense. Ukraine will lose a lot of vehicles. That is part of an offensive. The numbers the Russians show are nothing compared to the amount Ukraine has for this offensive.
But what is more important: people. The soldiers. Most destroyed vehicles seem to be destroyed by mines. You see that the hatches are open, no blood, almost no bodies. So the vehicles did what they are intended to do: protect the soldiers inside. Vehicles can be replaced, humans cannot.
And the hard truth is maybe difficult to accept: loss of human lives are foreseen and expected during an offensive.
Conclusion:
The Russian side is spreading footage of destroyed Ukrainian vehicles, while the Ukrainian side keeps a tight OPSEC and continues working behind the scenes.
Experts in conventional warfare are rare today and it has been decades since we have seen a war of this magnitude. So, keep this in mind as you closely monitor this war.
Stay Calm and Wait for GeoConfirmations!
