All Hell Breaks Loose! Massive Russian Columns Attack 2 New Regions! - RFU News

Today, there are a lot of interesting updates from Ukraine.

Here, as peace talks collapse and diplomacy fades, Russia is making its move. With fresh troops, heavy weapons, and political timing on their side, Moscow has begun what appears to be the opening phase of its long-anticipated summer offensive.

Recently, Trump's proposal for peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine in the Vatican by the end of May was rejected by Russian Foreign Affairs Minister Sergey Lavrov. Lavrov said that the Vatican is an unrealistic option for negotiating, under the excuse that it is inelegant for two Orthodox countries to discuss negotiations on a Catholic platform. Trump told the European leaders that Putin does not plan to end the war, as the Russians believe they are winning. Meanwhile, Putin stated that Russia needs to expand its buffer zone along the Ukrainian border for security and wants this to be addressed in future negotiations. Furthermore, during the peace talks in Istanbul, Russian diplomats even threatened to seize two more regions of Ukraine, implying Kharkiv and Sumy.

The Russian army is expected to conduct a new offensive in the Kharkiv and Sumy regions, where the summer offensive is underway. Andrii Pomahaibus, the chief of staff of the Ukrainian 13th National Guards Brigade, confirmed that Russians are preparing a large offensive beyond their initial buffer zone goal in Kharkiv and Sumy. Ukrainian commanders also confirmed that the Russians are preparing up to 50 thousand additional troops for this upcoming offensive, with 4 months of favorable weather left to conduct it.

As Russian offensive preparations became evident, Ukrainian forces began targeting concentrations of enemy troops along the Kharkiv–Sumy border. Geolocated footage from the Kharkiv direction confirmed the Russian deployment of TOS-1 thermobaric artillery systems, which are rarely used except in major operations, as the blast wave of these explosions can easily penetrate through walls and fortified bunkers. Ukrainians rapidly detected one of these powerful systems and immediately directed FPV drones to strike and destroy the target, preventing it from being used to target Ukrainian positions. In a separate precision attack, Ukrainian forces struck a key Russian command post in the rear, located in the town of Rylsk, eliminating the deputy commander of the 40th Marine Brigade, Alexander Danilov. Such decapitation strikes undermine Russian planning by disrupting command structures and delaying the coordination of upcoming assaults.

Additionally, Russians conducted a company-sized mechanized assault on the town of Lyptsi, to test for weak points in the Ukrainian defenses. This was the largest assault in Kharkiv direction seen in months, with Russians deploying tanks, BMPs, quad bikes, and motorbikes to assault Ukrainian positions. However, the attack, which relied heavily on surprise, was anticipated by the Ukrainians, who had already tracked Russian redeployments and prepared their forces. Within minutes, Russian units were decimated by coordinated artillery fire and drone strikes, destroying nine BMPs, eight motorbikes and quads, and one tank, before the Russian assault could even cross the border. Along with the vehicles, Russians lost up to one hundred soldiers killed and wounded in the attack, of which only a few could escape alive.

Until now, Russian attacks in this area had involved small, pure-infantry assaults in harassing-style attacks only, making this sudden escalation a strong indicator that Russia may indeed be preparing for a broader offensive. However, Ukrainians do not stand alone, as Europe is waking up and is massively increasing its defense production output. As you might remember from previous reports, the EU has already provided over two-thirds of their promised two million artillery shells to Ukraine, Germany is massively increasing its development and production of AI-guided HX-2 drones, and both France and the UK are sending hundreds of self-propelled artillery systems to Ukraine as well. These developments, among many others, are massively increasing Ukraine’s arsenal and capabilities, putting it in a much stronger position to repel the Russian summer offensive.

Overall, the Russians are escalating their probing attacks and increasing their military buildup in preparation for a summer offensive in Ukraine, following their rejection of any ceasefire offer. The rising military aid from the European Union to Ukraine will allow them to counter significant Russian assaults with a correspondingly greater density of fire from EU-supplied artillery, drones, ammunition, air defenses, and heavy equipment.