Russian Troops Reportedly Regroup in Kharkiv Sector

Russian troops are regrouping in the Kharkiv sector and preparing troops to assault the city of Vovchansk, said Col. Vitaly Sarantsev, a spokesperson of Ukraine’s Kharkiv Operational Tactical Group.

In a Telegram announcement, Ukraine’s Kharkiv Operational Tactical Group said Russia is training “assault groups of the 138th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade of the 6th Army and the 153rd Motorized Rifle Regiment of the 47th Motorized Rifle Division” for its Vovchansk offensive.

Kyiv Post reported on July 1 that the battle in Vovchansk, a major hotspot of Russia’s May Kharkiv offensive, has mostly been contained by Ukrainian troops, where it marked one of the few times Russian troops did not possess overwhelming firepower superiority since the 2022 invasion started.

However, Sarantsev said on national TV on Sunday, July 14, that the situation in the region remains difficult, and Russian troops were continuing their efforts to advance despite heavy losses.

“The situation is quite difficult at the moment, the Russian occupiers [have not stopped] trying to dislodge our defenders from their positions, they are regrouping. In the area of Morokhovets and Krasne settlements, in order to continue the assault, the enemy is moving personnel to the Hlyboke settlement area,” said Sarantsev.

Ukraine’s Kharkiv Operational Tactical Group, in its Telegram announcement, also said Russia transferred personnel from the assault groups of the 155th separate brigade of marine infantry of the Pacific Fleet and the 18th motorized rifle division of the 11th army corps to Hlyboke.

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Zelensky: November-December Sees Record Russian Losses in Combat

The Ukrainian military regularly reports that Russian forces are resorting to ‘meat assaults,’ sending wounded or poorly trained fighters into battle as cannon fodder.

The Insitute for the Study of War (ISW), citing a social media announcement from a Russian milblogger, said in its July 14 update that “the Russian Northern Grouping of Forces (GoF), which is responsible for the offensive in the Kharkiv direction, only has 30,000 to 70,000 troops,” a number that the mil-blogger said is insufficient to penetrate 40 kilometers of Ukrainian defenses.

Ukraine’s Kharkiv Operational Tactical Group said Russian losses in the Kharkiv region on July 14 amounted to 120 personnel alongside 77 units of various equipment, including four armored combat vehicles and five artillery systems.

On July 12, the British Ministry of Defence announced in its daily update that Russian losses across the front in May and June averaged 1,262 and 1,163 daily respectively, with the total losses likely surpassing 70,000 over the two months.