Russians suffer a complete command chaos, as communication networks are shut down

Today, there is important news from the Zaporizhia direction.

Here, the Ukrainian forces began a clearing operation, which surprised the enemy, who perceived it as a major counteroffensive. This led to contradicting statements and warnings from Russian analysts, who had not yet realized how the front really collapsed.

As part of standard counter-infiltration measures, Ukrainian reconnaissance detected enemy infantry entrenched in a building in Prydorozhne, south of Ternuvate, prompting the deployment of a clearing group. However, due to the critical Russian loss of Starlink, Ukrainians encountered much less drone activity and accurate artillery fire.

As a result, the clearing operations proceeded much faster than usual, as Ukrainian troops eliminated the infiltrators and raised the national flag, confirming control in the online information space as well. Similar localized clearing actions were launched south of Pokrovske and Velykomikhailivka, aimed at stabilizing the sector further north by removing forward Russian elements that had slipped in during earlier infiltration attacks.

The success of these operations was compounded by successful FP-2 drone strikes on positions used by Russian FPV operators from the Rubicon unit, the only one present who could have provided fiber optic drone support that isn’t affected by the Starlink outage.

Ukrainian forces also targeted Russian logistics sites, including a base storing transport vehicles like cars, motorcycles, and even horses. Additional footage from the 225th Assault Regiment showed a Russian assault group being struck precisely while unloading ammunition from the trunk of a car.

Such losses further degraded Russian mobility and only further accelerated the speed of Ukrainian clearing operations in the rear, with ground units having much less threats to worry about and being able to act much more aggressively. 

A crucial detail here is that when Russian infiltrators arrive in a settlement, Russian forces consider this settlement and the terrain in front of it as captured.

However, with their infiltrators being cleared out of settlements all across the Huliaipole and Dnipropetrovsk sectors, Russians immediately assumed the worst; a large Ukrainian counteroffensive must be underway.

This distressing idea was then only compounded by reports that Ukrainian forces were active on the eastern bank of the river, which the Russians considered as captured, but in reality was simply where the frontline was situated. 

That meant that due to the lack of communication, Ukrainian rear-area strikes, clearing operations, and earlier false reports by local Russian commanders, in the perspective of Russian generals, Ukrainians had just launched the largest counteroffensive since Kursk, and were penetrating deeply into Russian lines.

The Russian information apparatus immediately picked up their own reports and began downplaying the non-existent Ukrainian operation. Russian forces claimed that it had been repelled and halted east of the river, quickly fabricating reports on the encirclement and destruction of Ukrainian forces, again exactly along the current line of contact. Ironically, it was Ukraine’s own command that clarified the situation, publicly rejecting claims of a counteroffensive in the area and embarrassing the Russians. Spokesman Vladyslav Voloshyn stated that Russian maps did not reflect reality and that Ukrainian actions consisted of reconnaissance and clearing operations, not an offensive.

Interestingly, the Russians indirectly admitted that the frontline is exactly where Ukraine and open-source analysts say it is, with Russians overestimating their gains by over 10 kilometers. The clarification itself underscored how far Russian perceptions had drifted from reality and revealed a deeper vulnerability.

Russian fear of a counteroffensive triggered disorganization, panic, and a scramble for response, allowing Ukrainian units to clear infiltrators more easily. Notably, reputable sources even reported on Russians firing on their own assault groups sent out to purportedly halt the absentee offensive. 

Overall, Ukraine’s clearing operations north of Huliaipole exposed Russia’s farce in overstating success and immediately denying setbacks, while at the same time, the Russian way of reporting captured terrain had fooled them into believing that a major counteroffensive was ongoing. With the Ukrainians nearly collapsing the Russian line without even intending to, it will surely give the Ukrainian command new ideas implement a strategy to do it for real. While Ukrainians tend to learn from such experiences, the Russian command historically does not; mistakes will be repeated, and be ready for exploitation. Ukraine did not set out to provoke a collapse, yet Russian command paralysis turned limited clearing actions into a sector-wide disruption at the first sign of coordinated pressure.