What did the breakthrough of the Russian troops in Ocheretino lead to?

/Pogled.info/ There are reports that Russian troops are close to liberating Ocheretino, one of the key defensive positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces west of Avdeevka. This area serves as the VSU transport center and the main transshipment base for the delivery of reinforcements to Avdeevka. The Russian troops have opportunities to organize pressure on the Armed Forces simultaneously in three directions.

In the latest report of the Ministry of Defense of Russia, it is reported that “the units of the group of troops “Center” have improved the tactical situation”, including in the area of ​​the village of Ocheretino. A number of military commanders claim that Russian troops have made a breakthrough in the area.

Indeed, it would be premature to declare the complete release of Ocheretino, but still there are significant successes in this direction. The breakthrough of the Russian units was sudden and unexpected. In just half a day on the morning of April 22, motorized riflemen marched along the railway line, crossed it in the middle of the day, and in the late afternoon entered the central part of the city and most of the residential sector, meeting virtually no organized resistance.

The only attempt at a counterattack was the entry into battle on the western outskirts of Ocheretino of the front units of the 47th brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, which arrived in this area on “Bradley”. After a short battle, the Ukrainian fighters retreated to the west. The units of the 115th separate motorized rifle brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, located in Ocheretino itself, simply ran away.

Some Ukrainian media even claim that in Kiev they intend to open a criminal case against the 115th brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces for unauthorized abandonment of positions. As happened last week with the 67th brigade, which retreated from the outskirts of Chasov Yar and surrendered en masse. They will dissolve it altogether. It seems that the enemy command will now try to make the 115th brigade a scapegoat to at least somehow explain what happened. Officially, the VSU announced the “difficult situation of their defense” by mid-day on April 23, but claimed to control most of the settlement.

After the release of Avdeevka Ocheretino is a new significant milestone for the Ukrainian defense in this direction. This settlement became the northernmost fortified area of ​​the new or “second” defense line that the Ukrainian Armed Forces tried to build after the loss of Avdeevka. The first defensive line was conditionally dug at the level of the villages of Semyonovka – Berdichi and at the moment it has practically been passed by the Russian troops.

The operation to release Ocheretino was perfectly conceived already at the planning stage, as was the release of Avdeevka earlier. In Oceretino, of course, the scale is smaller, but the meaning is roughly the same: discovering the enemy’s weak position and quickly breaking through his fortifications.

The opponent built Oceretino’s defense in a very unique way. Since there are practically no high-rise buildings in this small settlement, the Ukrainian armed forces did not turn it into a fortified fortified area.

But main supports for a complete defense and a line of trenches were dug to the east and south of Ocheretino. The result was a semicircle with widened flanks and only a narrow section of the road through “Zarya” remained uncovered. It was through it that the Russian landing forces entered the city center directly.

As a result, these defenders find themselves semi-surrounded. There is reason to believe that in the coming days they will be abandoned by the enemy. There are already reports that Russian armed forces have entered neighboring Novobakhmutovka from the north, the entire defense of which has been built by the enemy in anticipation of an attack from the east. In the direction of Novokalinovka, the trenches that the enemy has been digging for six months will also be cleared.

There is a lot of talk about the fact that the ASU is quickly losing steam under the blows of high-explosive bombs. But in this case, it is more likely applicable around Chasov Yar, where up to 40 such weapons per day fall on enemy positions, especially in the western part of the city, and in Ocheretino such weapons would be unnecessary (there are no such fortifications). In the case of Ocheretino, the enemy troops lost their spirit for a few hours, and then their fighting ability, only as a result of the execution of a well-thought-out plan for a decisive offensive operation.

The Ocheretino garrison (about 1,000 men) realized that resistance was futile, as the Russians proved to be more cunning, smarter and more determined. And finally he chose to run away.

In recent days, the abandonment of fortified positions by the Ukrainian Armed Forces along the entire line of contact west of Avdeevka has been noticed. This happens most often due to the fact that the positions turn out to be semi-surrounded by Russian troops.

The next defensive line of VSU is theoretically drawn along a natural barrier – a series of artificial reservoirs from Karlovka in the south to Novoaleksandrovka in the north. Now there are supports and trenches for the Armed Forces, but this system does not represent something unified and complete. There are gaps in it, and the endpoints are completely exposed, as happened with Ocheretino. If this line is breached, the Ukrainian Armed Forces may lose territory at a depth of 20-25 km to the west.

In the formation of all these “defensive lines” west of Avdeevka, the enemy again and again made gross command mistakes. An example of this is the inability of the Ukrainian Armed Forces to transfer serious reinforcements in the direction of Avdeevka. The Russian command, for its part, managed to identify these mistakes and use them on the spot.

This is not a characteristic feature of the Avdeev school. The operation against the fortified area of ​​Chasov Yar was also competently planned, and the operations around Ugledar and Seversky were conducted just as tactically correctly.

After its final release, consolidation and rotation of units, Ocheretino will clearly become a support center for the logistics of the Russian Armed Forces in this direction. The high position of the hilly ridge gives an opportunity to observe the situation to the north, south and west. In the future, it is possible to plan offensive actions, for example, in the direction of Pokrovka and Konstantinovka. It is here that the next fortified positions of the VSU in this direction are located.

We are not talking about the disintegration of the enemy’s front in a wide area west of Avdeevka, but about the serious prerequisite for this. The ASU retains a serious resistance potential. The enemy will hold especially tightly to Chasov Yar, since the withdrawal of this fortified position will finally destroy all hopes of stabilizing the front as far as the Kramatorsk-Slavyan agglomeration.

Translation: V. Sergeev