18 Aug: BLITZ CONTINUES: Sudza City Taken. Glushkovo City Next. | War in Ukraine Explained

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Today there are a lot of updates from the Kursk direction.
Here, the Ukrainians managed to consolidate control of Sudzha and use it as a logistical hub for further assaults in the southern Kursk region. To make things even worse for the Russians, Ukrainians took advantage of weak Russian border defenses to open new vectors of attack along the international borders to expand the area of operations.
The minimal damage to buildings in Sudzha indicates that there was little fighting before Russian forces withdrew. The capture of Sudzha, with its intact infrastructure, provides a strategic advantage for the Ukrainians, enabling them to establish a stable logistical hub to support further operations across the Kursk region. This intact infrastructure allows the Ukrainian forces to set up ammunition depots, field hospitals, troop rotation points, and forward operating bases within the town. As a result, the Ukrainian command can accelerate their advance and consolidate control over newly gained territories.
The urban layout of Sudzha offers Ukrainian forces significant advantages for concealing armored and motorized vehicles, allowing them to accumulate resources for future offensives and repair damaged equipment. The buildings, along with their basements, provide concealed sleeping quarters and hideouts where Ukrainian soldiers can recover and reorganize for upcoming assaults. As an operational hub, Sudzha enables the Ukrainian command to rapidly deploy troops to the frontlines, being just ten to twenty kilometers from all points of the front. In contrast, Ukrainian forces previously relied on Yunakivka in the Sumy Oblast as a staging ground, which is located thirty to forty kilometers from the front.
The establishment of a new logistics hub in Sudzha for the second phase of operations required the Ukrainian offensive group in Kursk to briefly slow down to consolidate their forces. Anticipating this, the Ukrainian command took proactive measures to prevent the Russians from gaining the initiative. They employed remote mining techniques to strategically place anti-infantry and anti-tank mines along potential Russian assault routes. This approach effectively thwarted Russian counterattacks, as the lack of sufficient armored vehicles in the area made such assaults too costly for the Russians to risk.
Aware that the minefields around Sudzha would slow their progress, the Ukrainians prepared additional combat-ready units to sustain their assault. They opened a new axis of attack from the village of Plekhovo toward the Russian-held town of Giri on the southern flank. The primary objective was to advance along the road south of the Psel River, targeting Giri, which lies to the south of Belitsa. Once this objective was secured, Ukrainian forces positioned in the north at Sudzha could launch a coordinated assault on Belitsa from two directions.
The terrain configuration in the area worked to the Ukrainians' advantage, as the Psel River effectively secured the northern flank of their main advance toward Giri. The Russians were unable to threaten the Ukrainian flanks in this sector due to the presence of only two bridges crossing the river. These bridges were closely monitored by Ukrainian drones and protected by sabotage and reconnaissance units, ready to eliminate any Russian forces attempting to cross at these narrow chokepoints.
The Ukrainian assault forces advancing toward Giri moved swiftly along the highway from Plekhovo, seizing control of the nearby settlements of Borki, Spalnoye, Krupets, and Kamyshnoye with little to no Russian resistance. However, the Russians had concentrated their forces just south of Belitsa, in Giri, where they staged a well-prepared ambush. This surprise attack inflicted losses on the Ukrainian formation, forcing them to retreat to Kamyshnoye.
The strong Russian resistance in Giri is due to the concentration of their limited forces in this area. To compensate for their scarcity, Russian troops were covertly deployed on the outskirts of towns with regional significance, such as Giri, which is only administratively separate from Belitsa. However, the massing of Russian forces here means they are stretched thin and absent in other critical areas.
Given the concentrated Russian resistance near Giri, the Ukrainians decided to put their plans to capture Belitsa on hold and redirect their assaults toward Glushkovo...