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The Russian Ministry of Defense reported on the 19th local time that the Russian army attacked the Ukrainian army's manpower and equipment in 147 areas. Ukraine said it repelled the Russian attack in multiple directions.In the Kursk direction, Russia and Ukraine are fighting fiercely。

The Russian Ministry of Defense said that over the past day, various groups of the Russian armed forces continued to launch attacks on Ukrainian personnel and equipment, and the Russian army controlled some settlements and a railway station in the Donetsk region.

Ukraine said on the 18th that it had fought with the Russian army near Volchansk and Liptsy, and that the Ukrainian army had repelled multiple Russian attacks in the direction of Toretsk and Pokrovsk.

Ukrainian troops attacked several bridges in Russia

Military investigators from the Russian Federal Investigative Committee said on the 19th that the Ukrainian army used missiles and artillery to attack targets in Russia's Kursk Oblast on the 18th, causing damage to the third highway bridge over the Seym River.

The footage released by the Ukrainian army shows that the third road bridge over the Sheym River was damaged

On the 18th, the Ukrainian Air Force released a video saying that it had attacked a bridge over the Seym River in Kursk Oblast, Russia.

The footage shows that after the attack, a huge crater appeared on the bridge deck. This is the second bridge attacked by the Ukrainian army in Russia. On the 16th, the Ukrainian army confirmed that it had attacked a bridge that also spanned the Seym River. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zakharova said,The Ukrainian army used Western-made weapons to attack the bridge, which was completely destroyed。

Ukrainian Air Force Commander Olshuk said that Ukrainian fighter jets will continue to weaken the Russian army's logistical supply capabilities through precision air strikes.

Russia says Ukrainian troops failed to break through Russian defense line in Kursk

According to a report by Russia's TASS news agency on the 18th local time, Araudinov, deputy director of the Russian Armed Forces' Military and Political General Directorate, said that the Ukrainian army has been trying to break through the Russian army's defense line in Kursk, but failed.Ukrainian President Zelensky said on the evening of the 18th that one of the main purposes of Ukraine's attack on Russia's Kursk Oblast was to establish a buffer zone in Russia.。

Ukrainian troops "reinforce" their positions, Russian troops may launch "encirclement" operations

So, what is the current situation of the war between Russia and Ukraine? What are the considerations behind the Ukrainian army's current intensified military operations in Kursk Oblast? How will Russia respond? Let's listenReporterWei Dongxu's analysis.

CCTV reporter Wei Dongxu:Ukraine sent combat troops into the Russian mainland, that is, to attack Kursk Oblast. Its main purpose is to contain Russia's special military operations and try to transfer the main Russian forces on the Eastern Front to the direction of Kursk by attacking Kursk Oblast.

So far, such tactics have not worked. The Russian army is still advancing and fighting on the eastern front in the area of ​​special military operations, including further breakthroughs in the Donbas region. Now the Ukrainian combat troops in Kursk Oblast have stopped their rapid offensive and have switched to a defensive state. On the one hand, the Ukrainian army used HIMARS high-mobility rocket launchers to destroy some bridges in Kursk Oblast, which not only cut off their own way forward, but also better defended the areas under their control and prevented Russian reinforcements to the greatest extent.

Screenshot of the video of the Ukrainian army bombing the bridge

CCTV reporter Wei Dongxu:By destroying bridges, the pace of the Russian counterattack in Kursk Oblast can indeed be slowed down to a certain extent, but there is no way to stop the Russian army from crossing the river to counterattack. Because many combat units of the Russian army have engineering troops, even if some bridges are destroyed or damaged, the Russian engineers can build multiple groups of pontoon bridges in a short time to allow their tanks, armored vehicles and combat troops to pass quickly. It can be said thatAs time goes by, the Russian army will accumulate more and more combat forces in the Kursk region. Not only will they launch targeted counterattacks, but they may also launch attacks against Ukrainian forces that have invaded Russia.militaryCombat troops surrounded。

CCTV reporter Wei Dongxu:Now the Ukrainian army is not only launching this kind of tentative offensive in some combat areas, but also starting to consolidate the areas under its control. Now on the front line of Kursk Oblast,The contest between Russia and Ukraine is still going on. It is not ruled out that the Ukrainian army may also increase its troops in Kursk Oblast., trying to control this area a little longer.

Further reading

The results announced by Russia and Ukraine must be discounted

After Ukraine announced in early August that it had "sunk" a Russian Black Sea Fleet submarine, the veteran driver mentioned that even the West questioned this achievement. Now new evidence has come - satellite photos have found that Russia has deployed a full-scale model of a submarine in the Sevastopol military port, which makes the outside world more suspicious that the Ukrainian army destroyed a decoy at the time.

Of course, for both Russia and Ukraine, the current battlefield is full of various strange baits, and even their combat statistics will be greatly reduced.

Satellite photos show that Russia has deployed a full-scale model of a submarine in the Sevastopol naval port

According to the US Navy News website, a Western commercial satellite recently discovered an inflatable model of a Kilo-class submarine next to the dock of the 13th Shipyard of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in the Sevastopol military port. Western submarine expert Sutton said that the Russian submarine model can be used to lure Ukraine into an attack in the future to avoid greater losses to the Black Sea Fleet. At present, the Russian military still has at least three Kilo-class submarines with combat capabilities.

This news immediately reminded everyone of Ukraine's major victory in early August. At that time, the Ukrainian army claimed that it had sunk a Russian submarine in the air strike on Sevastopol on August 2, "another major setback for Moscow in the Crimean Peninsula." According to the Ukrainian army's war report, the sunken submarine was the "Rostov-on-Don", a "Kilo" class submarine of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. But the problem is that the submarine was severely damaged in the Ukrainian air strike in September last year, and the British Ministry of Defense claimed at the time that it had suffered "catastrophic damage" that could not be repaired. CNN said that the severely damaged submarine was unlikely to be repaired in just a few months.

Regarding this "inexplicable" situation, the Ukrainian General Staff stated that the "Rostov-on-Don" had been repaired before being hit on August 2, and was even starting sea trials, but the Ukrainian army has not produced any actual evidence of "sinking a Russian submarine." Therefore, now that satellite photos have proved that the Russian Navy has deployed an inflatable submarine model in the port, the outside world will naturally be more suspicious. Did the Ukrainian army fall into the Russian army's trap and hit only a submarine model?

Ukrainian military camouflaged anti-aircraft missile decoy

If this speculation is confirmed, Ukraine does not need to be discouraged because there are too many battlefield baits in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, and both sides have been fooled more than once. The Russian army has already deployed various inflatable models of main combat weapons such as fighter jets and tanks on the battlefield, and even used real scrapped equipment as disguise to lure the Ukrainian army to attack.

However, the Russian army also has its share of perfunctory efforts. In April, the Austrian newspaper News reported that the British Ministry of Defense discovered through satellite photos that the Russian army had painted the outlines of fighter jets on the concrete runways of many airports, but "Russian helicopters often landed on the runways where fighter jets were painted, exposing this deceptive measure."

The Russian military painted the outlines of fighter jets on the concrete runways of several airports

Ukraine, which is generally at a disadvantage on the battlefield, has done more careful work in battlefield decoys. For example, the Russian army regards the Ukrainian army's "HIMARS" rocket launcher as a top threat, and even uses expensive ammunition such as "Iskander M" ballistic missiles and long-range cruise missiles for targeted strikes. The Ukrainian army seized the opportunity and used wood and inflatable equipment to make a lot of decoys imitating the "HIMARS" rocket launcher, which effectively attracted the Russian army's firepower. In 2022, a US diplomat said, "The Russian army claims to have hit more "HIMARS" than the total number we provided to Ukraine."

This situation has even affected the judgment of the results of the battle between the two sides. For example, the video released by the Russian Ministry of Defense on the 16th showed that the Russian army used the "Iskander M" missile to destroy several Ukrainian "HIMARS" rocket launchers, IRIS-T and "Patriot" air defense systems. However, the authenticity of these results can only be determined by the explosion effects after they were attacked. The ammunition of the "HIMARS" rocket launcher exploded after being attacked, and the "Patriot" system tried to intercept the incoming missile before being hit. These should be true, but there was no explosion after the IRIS-T was hit, so its authenticity is very questionable.