Ukrainian gunners shelled a Russian air-defense system in eastern Ukraine probably sometime in the past couple of days.

That itself isn’t all that noteworthy. Ukraine’s forces have destroyed dozens of Russian air-defenses since Russia widened its war on Ukraine in late February.

What’s important is where the shelling took place: just three miles northwest of Russian-occupied Izium, 60 miles southeast of Kkarkiv in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region.

Ukraine’s best medium artillery, its new American-made M777s, can lob 100-pound shells around 19 miles. That means Ukrainian forces have staged artillery no farther than 22 miles from Izium—and are blasting away.

Izium until recently was the locus of Russia’s faltering offensive in Donbas. The dozen or so Russian battalions in the area—15 percent of Russia’s entire army in Ukraine—in recent weeks pushed through Izium then west a few miles along the P79 highway.

The Ukrainian army’s 81st Air Mobile Brigade fought a tactical retreat along the P79, extracting a heavy toll on the Russians for every mile they advanced. The result, however, was a Russian penetration several miles into Ukrainian-held territory south of Kharkiv, where Kyiv’s troops now are mopping up.

The Izium salient represents a risk—to both sides. If the Russians can deepen and strengthen the salient, they might encircle the Ukrainian brigades south of Izium in Severodonetsk and nearby communities. Some of the best and most experienced Ukrainian units are in the Severodonetsk pocket. Surrounding and destroying them could tilt the war in Russia’s favor, at least in short term.

But there’s risk to the Russians, too. The Izium salient is vulnerable at its flanks, especially its northern flank. As Ukraine’s 92nd and 93rd Mechanized Brigades wrap up their operations around Kharkiv, they’ve shifted south to join the fight around Izium. If Ukrainian troops west and south of Izium can draw out the Russian battalions, the 93rd in particular is in a position to cut across the Russians’ supply lines and isolate the front-line troops.

That the Ukrainians now are within artillery range of Izium is a strong indicator that the salient indeed represents a greater danger to the Russians than it does to the Ukrainians. Russia already has lost as much as a third of its army in Ukraine; a defeat in Izium could add to that loss—a lot.

The Kremlin seems to appreciate the danger. There are hints the Izium salient no longer is the focus on Russia’s efforts in Donbas—and that Russian troops are repositioning south to join the fight around Lyman, a settlement that sits astride some important roads and railways and currently is under Ukrainian control.

Russian units including the T-72-equipped 90th Guards Tank Division in the past week have been advancing north and south of Lyman, clearly aiming to surround the town’s Ukrainian defenders, potentially including elements of the 57th Motorized Brigade. The Russians are trying to do around Lyman what the Ukrainians are threatening to do farther north around Izium—get behind an enemy force and cut it off.

But don’t lose sight of the bigger picture. In late February, Moscow’s war aims were maximalist. It intended to capture Kyiv, decapitate the Ukrainian government and seize both Donbas and the entire Ukrainian Black Sea coast, cutting off the country from the sea.

Three months later, Moscow’s aims are minimalist. Kyiv is safe, Ukraine’s main port Odesa is safe and the only place Russia stands any chance of “winning” anything is in Donbas. And only parts of Donbas.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidaxe/2022/05/18/ukraines-guns-are-in-range-of-izium-thats-bad-news-for-russia/amp/

Ukrainian forces are clearly an elite team of fighters...

They know what to do and they do it so well.

The moment Russia lost Kharkiv I knew it was only a matter of time that they would take Izium and be within range of Donbas and here we are.

Their guns are now within range of Izium as they keep pushing forward which has caused Russian troops to once again change plans and focus on Lyman as their staging point which is their last line of defence before Donbas

I love this

This war is a crazy strategy to destroy Russia...

Finland and Sweden are now set to join NATO
U.s and co have opened their embassy in Ukraine....

Putin is now a big puppet...

I pity Russia

They go soon chop am wotowoto

Wahala no dey finish

Watch as putards will come for your head.

Another propaganda...

Lol, you are joking. No serious person takes western military analysts seriously. A whole general posted a video game as evidence of Ukrainians decimating Russians and then called a surrender of over 1,500 Ukrainian troops an evacuation. Console yourself for now. Time will tell.

Igbofam2:
Ukrainian forces are clearly an elite team of fighters...

They know what to do and they do it so well.

The moment Russia lost Kharkiv I knew it was only a matter of time that they would take Izium and be within range of Donbas and here we are.

Their guns are now within range of Izium as they keep pushing forward which has caused Russian troops to once again change plans and focus on Lyman as their staging point which is their last line of defence before Donbas

I love this

So their guns were not in range of Izium before?

Are you telling me that with over 60k troops and 40k terrodefence operating in Donbass they don't have guns in range of Izium?

@Igbofam your brain should be used for fowl feed



BTW Ukraine has all sort of guns in their theatre of Operation in Donbas, South of Izium is also part of the theater

Svlla:
So their guns were not in range of Izium before?

Are you telling me that with over 60k troops and 40k terrodefence operating in Donbass they don't have guns in range of Izium?

@Igbofam your brain should be used for fowl feed



BTW Ukraine has all sort of guns in their theatre of Operation in Donbas, South of Izium is also part of the theater

Lmao you always appear to post your usual dumb posts which always display your stupidity so why am I not surprised by this one

Distance from Donbas to Izium is 188km which is 116 miles. Ukrainian ground firepower does not cover such distance.

I actually was referencing from Kharkiv to Izium and not from Donbas to Izium but your peanut sized brain would always see through the eyes of it's stupidity.

Ukrainian forces are advancing from Kharkiv to Izium heading towards Donbas and not the other way around.

Just keep confirming my obviously correct assessment of you and your stupidity

Igbofam:


Lmao you always appear to post your usual dumb posts which always display your stupidity so why am I not surprised by this one

Distance from Donbas to Izium is 188km which is 116 miles. Ukrainian ground firepower does not cover such distance.

I actually was referencing from Kharkiv to Izium and not from Donbas to Izium but your peanut sized brain would always see through the eyes of it's stupidity.

Ukrainian forces are advancing from Kharkiv to Izium heading towards Donbas and not the other way around.

Just keep confirming my obviously correct assessment of you and your stupidity

You say wetin

Nothing you Sabi

Distance from Donbas to Izium is 188km which is 116 miles. Ukrainian ground firepower does not cover such distance. ode

From Izium town to Barvinkove by road na 40km, to Sloviansk 50km talkless of Southern Izium where Russian forces concentrate that's 2/3(12km) of the distance

Barvinkove-Sloviansk-Kramatorsk where Ukrainian forces concentrate south of izium is within 5-10 km of contact with Russian forces advancing from Izium
Even Ukrainian forces at Lisichansk are within 40km operational range with Russian forces from Izium

Kharkiv to Izium who tell you say they can hit Izium from Kharkiv that's over 120km. Na missiles dem wan use.

You dey reason like toddler....Izium town is 120km from Kharkiv which is out of operational range of most Artillery fire

You're just plain stupid

Russian forces just recaptured Ternovoe village in Kharkiv area that Ukriane took and celebrated that its forces are at Russian border.

It's time Ukraine use that big gun their daddy Igbofam bought for them

Igbofam:


Lmao ode the Ukrainian advancement is for real and they leave destroyed Russian equipment as they approach Izium


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrU3WQcnS-I

Na so approach Izium

And them never take one village

Svlla:


You say wetin

Nothing you Sabi

Distance from Donbas to Izium is 188km which is 116 miles. Ukrainian ground firepower does not cover such distance. ode

From Izium town to Barvinkove by road na 40km, to Sloviansk 50km talkless of Southern Izium where Russian forces concentrate that's 2/3(12km) of the distance

Barvinkove-Sloviansk-Kramatorsk where Ukrainian forces concentrate south of izium is within 5-10 km of contact with Russian forces advancing from Izium
Even Ukrainian forces at Lisichansk are within 40km operational range with Russian forces from Izium

Kharkiv to Izium who tell you say they can hit Izium from Kharkiv that's over 120km. Na missiles dem wan use.

You dey reason like toddler....Izium town is 120km from Kharkiv which is out of operational range of most Artillery fire

You're just plain stupid

You are just beyond being labelled an idiot for real.

I am embarrassed on your behalf

Igbofam:


You are just beyond being labelled an idiot for real.

I am embarrassed on your behalf

Same Forbes news

Am wasting my time arguing with you

You don't know anything if you think Ukraine will be able to shell Izium from wherever they are at kharkiv

See what your western BBC has to say. Look at the map and see the distance. Like I said unless Ukraine is able to take some settlement south of Kharkiv currently held by Russian forces they won't be able to have an effective range on Izium. Russian forces are operating from Izyum to envelop the Ukrainians at Donbas

No amount of propaganda can change reality on ground.

Am surprised you're not talking of Ukrainian heroes evacuated from mauripol

Irredeemable dun.ce

Svlla:


Same Forbes news

Plssssss

I see one small sense like that you will never have.

Even Aljazeera is saying the same thing. Russia is losing Izium and trying to consolidate by staging at Lyma so they can focus on Donbas and Luhansk.

They are failing in Izium

So it is not just a Forbes thing as you so foolishly thought

Putin bots are clearly in shock and unable to accept the fact that Russia's direct focus on Donbas is due to their huge loses and shortage of manpower which is why they are limiting their focus and concentrating on a small area of DEFENCE. Yes I said Defence because they are on the defensive now.

On P79 highway leading to Izium the Ukrainians carried out a tactical retreat to draw the Russians further in to Kharkiv for a pincer which was done and the Ukrainian forces are now mopping up

Russia is now so desperate that they have deployed their TERMINATOR tank to Luhansk to support the troops remaining and staging there

Worthy of note is that Russia only has 9 yes 9 Terminator laser tanks but for some desperate reason unknown to Putin bots they have deployed 2 to Luhansk and Donbas

They must know that a major fight is headed their way progressively

Igbofam:


I see one small sense like that you will never have.

Even Aljazeera is saying the same thing. Russia is losing Izium and trying to consolidate by staging at Lyma so they can focus on Donbas and Luhansk.

They are failing in Izium

So it is not just a Forbes thing as you so foolishly thought

So you're saying the Russians do not control Izium and Rubezhnoye....mahn, you're clueless

A simple Wikipedia search will help you....am done with you. There's no hope for you in the distant future

Since the day they started using video games as video evidence of Ukrainian victories I stopped believing the foolish propaganda.
Please keep enjoying yourself while it lasts until reality wakes you up.

Igbofam:


Lmao ode the Ukrainian advancement is for real and they leave destroyed Russian equipment as they approach Izium


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrU3WQcnS-I

Igbofam:
Putin bots are clearly in shock and unable to accept the fact that Russia's direct focus on Donbas is due to their huge loses and shortage of manpower which is why they are limiting their focus and concentrating on a small area of DEFENCE. Yes I said Defence because they are on the defensive now.

On P79 highway leading to Izium the Ukrainians carried out a tactical retreat to draw the Russians further in to Kharkiv for a pincer which was done and the Ukrainian forces are now mopping up

Russia is now so desperate that they have deployed their TERMINATOR tank to Luhansk to support the troops remaining and staging there

Worthy of note is that Russia only has 9 yes 9 Terminator laser tanks but for some desperate reason unknown to Putin bots they have deployed 2 to Luhansk and Donbas

They must know that a major fight is headed their way progressively

How does all this shit you typed translate to Russia not holding Izium or not holding a good 100km buffer from Kharkiv to Izium

How does it stop the envelopment of Severedonesk and push from Lyman and Pospana

No matter the propaganda it doesn't stop Russian advance, your western MSM tells you Ukraine is winning yet they update maps showing you Russian advances.

Russia keeps gaining ground even your msm was crying last week when Pospana and Zarya was taken....these are towns not villages and these are major advances in the scale of this war so far

So, let's assume that you don't have the sense to reason but can't you see the map showing clear Russian advancements

Go check your ISW most recent map of Ukraine

I think ISW has the most updated ones your western stooges trust

Svlla:


So you're saying the Russians do not control Izium and Rubezhnoye....mahn, you're clueless

A simple Wikipedia search will help you....am done with you. There's no hope for you in the distant future

How daft can you really get for crying out loud?

Your intelligence is basically scraping the bottom of the barrel now.

If Russia did not control Luhansk why have i been saying that the Ukrainian troops are advancing in that direction from Izium toward Donbas?

Are you this daft? Was it not in Russia's attempt to encircle the Ukrainian forces in Rubizhne that they tried to cross the Donets River at Bilohorivka? Was that not where Ukrainian forces destroyed the pontoon bridges and the Russian equipment leaving about 485 Russian soldiers dead?

It's clear you lack the capacity to know what is going on in this war. You and your fish brain

atmy1:
Since the day they started using video games as video evidence of Ukrainian victories I stopped believing the foolish propaganda.
Please keep enjoying yourself while it lasts until reality wakes you up.

Yes Video games indeed

Attached are stills from the video you call a video game

I am also sure you know who marks their military vehicles with O

[s]

Svlla:


How does all this shit you typed translate to Russia not holding Izium or not holding a good 100km buffer from Kharkiv to Izium

How does it stop the envelopment of Severedonesk and push from Lyman and Pospana

No matter the propaganda it doesn't stop Russian advance, your western MSM tells you Ukraine is winning yet they update maps showing you Russian advances.

Russia keeps gaining ground even your msm was crying last week when Pospana and Zarya was taken....these are towns not villages and these are major advances in the scale of this war so far

So, let's assume that you don't have the sense to reason but can't you see the map showing clear Russian advancements

Go check your ISW most recent map of Ukraine

I think ISW has the most updated ones your western stooges trust

[/s]

Whenever intelligence hits you, you start babbling incoherently.

Stop adoring senselessness

Lol. Did I just read twin failures at ' Rubhzne and Izium' ? It's either this report is over a month old or they don't know what they are saying because both settlements are firmly in Russian hands at the moment. This Igbofam dude is not thinking at all

Igbofam:


I see one small sense like that you will never have.

Even Aljazeera is saying the same thing. Russia is losing Izium and trying to consolidate by staging at Lyma so they can focus on Donbas and Luhansk.

They are failing in Izium

So it is not just a Forbes thing as you so foolishly thought

Igbofam:


How daft can you really get for crying out loud?

Your intelligence is basically scraping the bottom of the barrel now.

If Russia did not control Luhansk why have i been saying that the Ukrainian troops are advancing in that direction from Izium toward Donbas?

Are you this daft? Was it not in Russia's attempt to encircle the Ukrainian forces in Rubizhne that they tried to cross the Donets River at Bilohorivka? Was that not where Ukrainian forces destroyed the pontoon bridges and the Russian equipment leaving about 485 Russian soldiers dead?

It's clear you lack the capacity to know what is going on in this war. You and your fish brain

You're talking nonsense and I feel like you're doing this on purpose so I will small credit for trying to use your redundant brain

1. How can Ukraine be advancing from Izium to Donbass when they are not even in Izium. Not even 100km to Izium. You get sense atall

2. Bilohorivka is south of Rubezhnoye and Russian forces where advancing on Severedonesk along the Rubezhnoye-Voivodivka axis at least a kilometers from Rubezhnoye so who's telling this lie. Goan look at the operational situation map of activities in Donbass and see for yourself where Bilohorivka and Rubezhnoye is and ask yourself if your making sense. I already told you that Russia has Rubezhnoye already and they are advancing to Severedonesk as we speak battles are on going in Severedonesk.

atmy1:
Lol. Did I just read twin failures at ' Rubhzne and Izium' ? It's either this report is over a month old or they don't know what they are saying because both settlements are firmly in Russian hands at the moment. This Igbofam dude is not thinking at all

Cough Cough oh ye Putin bot.

The moment Russia failed to encircle the Ukrainian troops in the botched River crossing in the Donets River at Bilohorivka, they effectively lost their chance to be in full control of Rubhzne and this is the corridor the Ukrainian troops are advancing through to izium

Makes you wonder why Russia's troops were so eager to carry out that dangerous Donets river crossing near Rubhzne doesn't it?

Perhaps you would tell me that it was not so significant to them yet they deployed over 510 troops and over 90 military vehicles to that offensive and lost 485 out of the over 510 with over 70 military vehicles destroyed

That was the second failure.

The first failure was Russia losing one third of her ground troops in Donbas which is what has necessitated Putin deploying the Terminator tanks now whose main objective is to support the infantry and a lot of times can play the role of infantry support directly

Desperate times they say call for desperate measures right?

The entire Russia has only 9 Terminator tanks but 2 are currently in Donbas out of desperation...

Svlla:


You're talking nonsense and I feel like you're doing this on purpose so I will small credit for trying to use your redundant brain

1. How can Ukraine be advancing from Izium to Donbass when they are not even in Izium. Not even 100km to Izium. You get sense atall

2. Bilohorivka is south of Rubezhnoye and Russian forces where advancing on Severedonesk along the Rubezhnoye-Voivodivka axis at least a kilometers from Rubezhnoye so who's telling this lie. Goan look at the operational situation map of activities in Donbass and see for yourself where Bilohorivka and Rubezhnoye is and ask yourself if your making sense. I already told you that Russia has Rubezhnoye already and they are advancing to Severedonesk as we speak battles are on going in Severedonesk.

Proof that you are as dumb as they come, I said the Ukrainian firepower is within range of Izium...

Read that again and then point at where I said the Ukrainian troops are inside Izium.

Do you not know the difference between fire power range and land distance?

Bro you are way way dumb

Balogunodua:
Another propaganda...

exactly.

Kingsnairaland:
exactly.

Wail as usual

This is what is coming to your beloved Putin Orcs

Lol. Imagine a retired military general posting video game as evidence of Ukrainian victory? I am sure the ghost of Kyiv is still ready to kill more Russians in Donbas, right? What about the matyrs of Snake Island? Russia arrested their ghosts. SMH......

Igbofam:


Cough Cough oh ye Putin bot.

The moment Russia failed to encircle the Ukrainian troops in the botched River crossing in the Donets River at Bilohorivka, they effectively lost their chance to be in full control of Rubhzne and this is the corridor the Ukrainian troops are advancing through to izium

Makes you wonder why Russia's troops were so eager to carry out that dangerous Donets river crossing near Rubhzne doesn't it?

Perhaps you would tell me that it was not so significant to them yet they deployed over 510 troops and over 90 military vehicles to that offensive and lost 485 out of the over 510 with over 70 military vehicles destroyed

That was the second failure.

The first failure was Russia losing one third of her ground troops in Donbas which is what has necessitated Putin deploying the Terminator tanks now whose main objective is to support the infantry and a lot of times can play the role of infantry support directly

Desperate times they say call for desperate measures right?

The entire Russia has only 9 Terminator tanks but 2 are currently in Donbas out of desperation...

Rastaramsey:
This war is a crazy strategy to destroy Russia...

Finland and Sweden are now set to join NATO
U.s and co have opened their embassy in Ukraine....

Putin is now a big puppet...

I pity Russia

They go soon chop am wotowoto

That is the plan...

To weaken Russia and prevent the restoration of the old Soviet Union.

And Putin is playing into the hands of the West day by day.