Russian forces edge westward, probe Ukrainian defenses in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast
Russian troops entered two new villages in the central-eastern Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, probing the region with small assault groups, Ukraine's military said on Aug. 27.
Ukrainian forces quickly repelled the Russian assault groups that entered Zaporizke and Novoheorhiivka villages on Aug. 26, but fighting rages on in the "immediate vicinity," according to spokesperson Viktor Trehubov.
The industrial Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, just west of Donetsk Oblast, which has been war-torn since 2014, enjoyed a relative distance from the Russian onslaught until June.
Russia is now trying to push in two different directions: Around the village of Dachne — which the Russian Defense Ministry said it captured in June — and the two contested villages about 30 kilometers to the southwest.
Trehubov, who is from a military grouping in charge of the sector, said that the fighting in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast is taking place in "a very narrow area," where villages are sporadically spread across a flat field.
Western military experts who previously spoke to the Kyiv Independent said it appears to be more of an informational campaign rather than the start of a larger operation for Moscow.
Ukrainian military analyst Ivan Stupak said the current push appears to be Russia's "secondary objective," with Russia still aiming to capture the entirety of Donetsk Oblast first.
According to Stupak, however, Russia could still pose a threat to the sector if its troops get closer to the city of Pavlohrad, which currently lies over 80 kilometers west of the fighting.
The former Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) officer stressed that Pavlohrad would be under "great threat" if the distance reached about 30 kilometers because it's home to Ukrainian defense production facilities.
Trehubov, the military spokesman, said that for now, Russia is relying on five-man assault groups to capture these border villages.
"Currently, infiltration attempts are being made by small groups with active support from Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs)," Trehubov told the Kyiv Independent, a day after Russia sent several such assault groups to each village of the two Dnipropetrovsk Oblast villages.
Summing up the current push, Trehubov admitted Russia's "strong advantage" in the infantry numbers. "The main problem is simply numerical superiority," Trehubov said.
