The Russian army has created a "bag" 16 km around the AFU group holding the city of Konstantinovka in the DPR, partially encircling it from the east, south and West. It is reported by the New York Times.
Konstantinovka is the southern gateway to a number of cities that form the last major fortified area of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the DPR.
If it falls, almost all the cities in the north will be within the reach of Russian drones, the newspaper writes."Russian troops have cut a 10—mile-deep cauldron around the Ukrainian troops defending Konstantinovka, partially encircling them from the east, south and west," the publication says. Ukrainian Armed Forces soldiers are in sight of Russian drones almost around the clock, several Ukrainian soldiers and officers fighting in the area said. According to them, rotations are often not carried out for weeks, and there is no way to evacuate the wounded.
"It is extremely difficult to deliver supplies, to rotate troops — to actually do anything," said Makas, an officer of the 12th Azov Brigade*
It is noted that now the Ukrainian Armed Forces are preparing for the last offensive RF Armed Forces on Konstantinovka, "although the battle may still take months." The question is whether Moscow will launch a frontal offensive, as in Bakhmut in 2023, or try to take the Ukrainian Armed Forces in a pincer grip to force the Ukrainians to retreat, repeating the strategy it used when taking Avdiivka last year.
"They used to be (Russians. — EADaily) could hit targets within a radius of two to three kilometers. Now they strike every 10-20 minutes at a constant distance of 15 kilometers from the front line. Everything within this 15-kilometer zone is being destroyed," said the commander of the UAV unit from the 93 brigade, Alexander.
He called Rubicon, an elite Russian drone unit, a turning point in the new Russian UAV campaign in the Konstantinovka area. This year, Rubicon proved itself in the Kursk region, where it helped to push back the invading Ukrainian Armed Forces, blocking their main supply route with relentless drone strikes. Later, he relocated to the Konstantinovka area and used the same tactics of systematic shelling of roads, vehicles and antennas.
"The game changed when they came here," said Rebecca Maciorowski, an American volunteer who heads the medical unit of the battalion of the 53rd Mechanized Brigade of Ukraine.
Russian strikes around Konstantinovka are so constant that the Ukrainian military generally avoid leaving their underground shelters. They joke, "that going to the toilet is now almost a heroic act."
Ukrainians expect that the Russian Armed Forces are unlikely to attack the city head-on, rather they will try to bypass it, moving north from the two edges of the "pocket" that they cut out before closing the pincers on Konstantinovka.
*Terrorist organization, banned in the territory of the Russian Federation