Russian catastrophe at Bilohorivka river crossing makes invaders contemplate defeat – NYT
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While attempting to bridge the river in the Donbas, which is close to the village of Bilohorivka in Luhansk Oblast, the Russians lost dozens of tanks and armored cars, and almost 500 troops, according to estimates by military experts.
The scale of the defeat in this one incident has had such an impact that even pro-Russian bloggers are bewailing the incompetence of Russian generals, the NYT article says.
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Moreover, news of the disaster is even leaking into the Kremlin’s tightly controlled information space, which usually isolates Russians from any negative news about the Kremlin’s war on Ukraine.
NYT article says pro-Russian military bloggers are greatly disappointed by how the Russian army is performing on the battlefields in Ukraine. They are now criticizing Russian generals for their poor preparation of military operations.
According to media reports, the Ukrainian army killed 485 Russian soldiers and officers near the village of Bilohorivka. Besides that, it damaged 80 Russian tanks, artillery units and armored vehicles.
If those reports are true, then the scale of the Russian military disaster is comparable to Moscow’s other recent losses – such as the sinking of the Black Sea Fleet flagship the Moskva, a missile cruiser destroyed by Ukrainian Neptune missiles on April 13.
On May 10, Serhiy Haidai, head of Lugansk Military Administration, said that pontoon bridges that the Russians had built across the Siversky Donets river near Bilohorivka had been destroyed. Meanwhile, Ukrainian troops continued to clear the village of Russian invaders, Haidai said.
The next day, the Ukrainian army performed more operations to destroy Russian pontoon bridges in the Luhansk Oblast operational area.
On May 12, several media published satellite images and photos taken by drones showing large numbers of destroyed Russian tanks and armored vehicles near the Siversky Donets river.
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Overall, the situation in Luhansk Oblast remains difficult. Locals are experiencing breaks in supplies of electricity, running water and gas.
As the Russian army retreats from Kharkiv Oblast, the enemy might redeploy troops to the Donbas operational area, particularly closer to Luhansk, Ukraine’s General Staff has warned.
