Counteroffensive. Ukraine sent the most powerful brigade to the front

The 82nd Airborne Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, numbering 2 000 soldiers and equipped with British Challenger tanks and Marder and Stryker infantry fighting vehicles, was deployed to the vicinity of the village of Robotyne in the Zaporizhia region.

The 82nd brigade, like the 46th brigade, was among the last large formations that the command of the Ukrainian army kept in reserve. Their combination allows Ukrainian units to significantly increase their firepower in one of the two main directions of the counter-offensive.

Earlier, Deputy Defense Minister of Ukraine Hanna Malar announced that after fierce fighting in recent days, the armed forces managed to recapture the village of Urozajne, where one of the fortified areas of the Russian army was located.

According to analysts from the American Institute for War Studies (ISW), the Ukrainian Armed Forces conducted counter-offensive operations on Tuesday in at least three areas of the front and advanced in the Luhansk region, as well as in the west of the Zaporizhia region. At the same time, in the south, the Russian defense makes it difficult for the Ukrainians to counter-offensive.

Ukraine's counter-offensive. Russia prepared its defense well

The New York Times points out that if the Ukrainian forces manage to break through Urozajne, they will be only 80 km from Berdiansk. The aim of the operation is to reach the Sea of ​​Azov and cut through the so-called land bridge between Russia and Crimea, which is important for supplying the Russian army.

Urozajny's liberation may force Russian troops to retreat south, towards Staromlynivka, to the second line of defense, military analysts quoted in the publication believe.

At the same time, they emphasize that even if Ukrainian forces manage to break through Russia's first line of defense, they will still encounter perhaps the most powerful fortifications Moscow has built since World War II: trenches, anti-tank barriers and vast minefields.

The full-scale war between Russia and Ukraine began on February 24 last year. The aggression, which Moscow calls a "special military operation", turned into the largest armed conflict in this part of Europe since 1945.