Russia Opens a Second Front in Kharkiv: What Next?

Russia appears to have opened up a second front in Ukraine, attacking Kharkiv oblast from Belgorod and capturing small villages on the border. So in this video, we'll break down what's happening right now & what this means for the future of the conflict.

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[giantWario]

Quick correction here, Vovchansk is a town of 18 000 people. Only 3000 people evacuated yes but that's not the whole town's population, it's not even close. And a lot of the villages captured had no time to evacuate at all.

[Ugapiku]

"Most analysts are skeptical". Bro all of those analysts were wrong and continue to spout shit while Ukrainian people die...

[msl]

Well this comment section is gonna be a mess. Surprised Russia opened it now rather than earlier, it’s gonna be a tough time for Ukraine still.

[haris]

All this money on defense spending and research but by the end we've gone right back to WW1 era trench warfare

[nikitapower]

Your sponsor transition is horrible. Just say that Brilliant sponsors your show, cause it doesn’t flow well

[TheMetalfreak]

Chasiv Yar is the most worrying part. This is to, as the video states, to spread Ukraine's forces.

Western support is still extremely lacking, making me wonder if they actually want Ukraine to win. Them just needing simple artillery shells and not getting it baffles me.

The whole offensive (the one we saw a while back) was a failure for several reasons, but one big issue is western countries almost force them to have another offensive like they had before with the new gear. Almost like to show off, forcing them to do dumb decisions.

Not to mention the rules not to attack into Russia itself limits them insanely.

[davidmiller]

Russians already captured North Vovchansk. And are flanking from west and east of the river that bisecs Vovchansk

[ic]

Its not clear that there are fortifications in Vovchansk. Its likely that the river that runs through the middle of Vovchansk will become the front line with Russia on the north side and Ukraine on the south. The Russians may well be able to progress further south before they encounter constructed defenses. The big question is how many troops and vehicles they sacrifice to advance.

[theundertaker]

Remember the kerson pocket, 1943. Hells gate.

[blackups__]

Russia is using the divide and conquer strategy.

They know that Ukraine lacks man power, so spreading them apart means fewer men to deal with

[TSEliot]

It's really only reconnaissaince. They haven't used any heavy armor and only sent over like 30k men. They are trying to feel out how hard it is to overcome Ukraine's defenses.

[PaulV.]

11 villages by the time the video is out, half of Volchansk is captured along with 300 sq km of territory (the same amount in 48 hours as Ukrainians captured through their whole 2023 counteroffensive). Welcome to the real world.

[СветославТасев]

Russia may be advancing slowly on the ground but they are depleting Ukraine's manpower rather quickly. At this rate of attrition Ukraine will be left with 80 years old soldiers by the end of next year

[ValensBellator]

It’s truly a shame congress waited over half a year to send more support. It’s also a shame that everyone has been so slow to provide what they need under the pretense of not “escalating”.

[aotmoments]

I would say that this isn’t a new front it’s more like the rain before the storm

[LibertepourlesIranienset-khur]

Russia also enjoyed massive supplies of drones by Iran. The criminal regime in Iran helped Russia at length to change its war tactics against Ukraine.

[roseforeuropa]

".. Outskirts of Vovchansk by the time this video goes out". Pride Boy they've been geolocated to have seized territory up to the river that divides the city in half.

[ottomanosman]

As a Turk, I am so ashamed to see how Erdogan is playing with Putin. He doesn't care about what's going on with our Tatar brothers of Crimea at all, and he is showing no interests to help our brothers of Kazakhstan facing ongoing Russian threat. I would rather see Turkey supplying Ukraine, but Erdogan made sure his greediness triumph over a common cause despite Russia's anti-Turkic policies.

[privatebandana]

They have around 50k troops around the Kharkiv/Sumy regions, there's no way in hell that the plan is to take a massive city with such low numbers. Keep in mind that they had around 40k troops around Avdiivka when they took that city, and that's tiny compared to Kharkiv.

So yes, this is 100% about creating a buffer zone aswell as forcing Ukraine to send a bunch of much needed manpower there from the eastern front.

[loonowolf]

They can divert from the kherson front since, oh hey there no bridge left intact in that area