One of the most important goals of the Ukrainian counter-offensive is to break through the main Russian defense line in south-eastern Ukraine.

“Once the Ukrainians have broken through, they can push the Russians against their own trenches,” quotes the “Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland” (RND) Military economist Marcus Keupp.

That would be catastrophic because the Russians would never get out of this situation. Because on the other side is the Black Sea coast. That’s why this phase of the war is “much more risky for the Russians than for the Ukrainians,” says Keupp.

On Wednesday evening there were reports of a devastating attack on a group of Russian soldiers. Ukraine reportedly fired Himars missiles at a unit in Kreminna, Luhansk Oblast.

Russian commander is said to be to blame for high losses

With fatal consequences. In the maneuver should Reports by Russian media and military bloggers According to reports, up to 100 Russian soldiers were killed and up to 200 injured.

According to the Moscow Times, the unit is the 20th Guards Army, a major unit of the Russian Federation’s armed forces. The newspaper refers to a blogger.

The events prompted various angry comments from Russian military bloggers. Apparently the soldiers only died because the divisional commander made them wait two hours as a group.

The aim was to give a motivational speech to the soldiers. The Ukrainian armed forces took advantage of this moment. There is said to have been a Himar missile attack and artillery shelling.

“If the numbers are right, it’s a bitter loss for Putin”

According to Carlo Masala, military expert at the Bundeswehr University in Munich, the blow should not be overestimated for the course of the war.

“If the numbers are correct, and that seems plausible to me, then that would of course be a bitter loss for Putin’s troops,” Masala said in an interview with FOCUS online.

“But I don’t think he will have any particular influence on the Ukrainian counter-offensive and thus not on the course of the war,” the military expert continued.

Masala: “Putin’s air force conquers Ukrainian territories”

Of much greater importance is the fact that Putin’s air force has meanwhile increased the number of attacks on Zelenskyy’s troops. “The Russians are currently attacking the Ukrainian army, mainly with helicopters, and have captured several areas in the process,” says Masala.

“That has a much clearer effect on the overall situation for the course of the war than the Himars attack, which despite the high number of casualties is just one of many regional theaters of war.”

According to Masala, the many different attacks by the Ukrainians are mainly used to prepare for the “main blow”, which has not yet happened.

Keupp: “The main attack is a misconception in the West”

Military economist Keupp had previously stressed that it is a “misconception in the West” to expect a “big, romantic main attack”. Zelenskyy’s troops would pursue a “strategy of a thousand bee stings”.

According to the expert, this means “attacks on several axes at the same time”. In addition, there were “diversionary maneuvers that are intended to tie up the Russian reserves,” he said in an interview with the “RND”.

Keupp primarily recognizes two axes along which the offensive moves. “We see one thrust from Velyka Novosilka in a southeasterly direction to Mariupol and a second from Orikhiv in a southwesterly direction towards Melitopol.”

“Once that happens, the war is strategically lost for Russia”

In addition, there were partisan attacks on the last remaining railway lines, which are of central importance for supplying Russian troops on the Crimean Peninsula. The aim is to combine the two advances in Berdyansk.

“Then the Ukrainian armed forces will control the Black Sea coast so that they can completely shell and seal off Crimea,” Keupp said. “Once that happens, the war is strategically lost for Russia.”

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke of catastrophic losses for Ukraine in its counter-offensive. “By my calculations, Ukraine has lost 25 to 30 percent of foreign-supplied technology,” he said Tuesday at a meeting with Russian military correspondents.

“The enemy has not been successful in one sector of the front,” Putin claimed

In addition, the Ukrainian losses are ten times higher than on the Russian side. For the first time in a long time he spoke in detail to media representatives about the Ukraine war and its consequences.

“The enemy has not been successful in one sector of the front,” Putin claimed. Kiev had previously reported the recapture of several settlements in the south of the country.

According to the Kremlin boss, half of the Ukrainian losses are dead and seriously injured, who could not be made operational again. He didn’t want to give numbers.