Russia amasses huge ‘striking fist’ to attack Borova: report

Russian forces have gathered thousands of troops and hundreds of pieces of equipment in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region ahead of a push to recapture a town that Moscow’s troops had occupied in 2022, it has been reported.

In May, Russia launched an offensive in the northeast of Kharkiv, reportedly capturing around a dozen villages by the border, although this has since faltered and Ukraine has been launching counterattacks.

The Ukrainian Telegram channel DeepState said its crowdsourced analysis showed the extent of a Russian buildup between the front-line villages of Raihorodka and Novovodiane.

“The enemy has built up a striking fist to attack Borova,” the post on Wednesday said, according to a translation.

Borava was occupied by Russian forces during the battle for the Kharkiv city of Izium in the first year of the war before Russian troops fled on 3 October 2022, allowing Ukrainian authorities to regain control.

“The Russians have amassed up to 10,000 personnel and about 450 weapons, including 200 artillery systems,” said DeepState. “The goal is obvious—an attempt to repeat last year’s attack on Borova.”

DeepState showed a map it said outlined Russia’s buildup and described how the defensive line of the front was held by Ukraine’s 3rd Assault Brigade but that Russian troops outnumbered Ukrainian forces. It also said that Moscow is using additional units and conducting assault operations along the entire offensive line.

The 3rd Assault Brigade said in a post on Telegram that Russia was using tanks, FPV (first-point-view) drones and anti-aircraft missiles to advance, describing the front line in Kharkiv Oblast, which borders Luhansk Oblast, as “one of the most intense areas of the enemy’s offensive.”

DeepState said Russian forces have been looking to probe weaknesses in Ukraine’s defenses over the last three weeks, and continuous assaults have been helped by up to 400 newly mobilized troops.

“So far, the tactics of meatgrinder assaults have not yielded significant results only because there is a strong brigade in the area,” DeepState said in analysis reported by Ukrainska Pravda. “But we emphasize that the forces are far from equal.”

Newsweek has contacted the Russian and Ukrainian defense ministries for comment.

There has also been an increase in Russian attacks near the town of Toretsk in Donetsk Oblast after fighting in the area. In a post on Telegram, the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said on Wednesday that artillery, aircraft and unmanned systems had been used to repel five simultaneous attacks by Moscow.