Logistical Disaster! Russian Vanguard Loses Supplies! - RFU News

Today, the biggest news comes from the Li-man direction.

Here, Russia’s attempt to launch a major offensive toward Li-man has stretched its logistics to the breaking point, relying on just three fragile river crossings to sustain the entire operation. Now, with Ukrainian artillery relentlessly hammering these chokepoints, the offensive is unraveling fast—stranding Russian forces and pushing their advance to the edge of collapse.

Russian commanders appear to be preparing a classic combined assault, hoping to rush into the outskirts of the town, establish a foothold, and allow infiltration groups to spread behind Ukrainian lines. To accomplish this, large armored formations are already moving into staging areas, Russian engineer detachments work tirelessly to build pontoon crossings over the Zherebets River, and supplies are readied for the urban battle to begin.

Unfortunately for the Russians, Ukrainians spotted this sudden large-scale activity already from the start, and are working to put a deliberate stop to the Russian master plan. Geolocated footage shows an airstrike recently striking a crossing that engineers were preparing over the Zherebets River near Balka Zhuravka. Additional footage shows Ukrainian air strikes continuing to destroy Russian bridging efforts, each strike using two bombs to double the damage and ensure successful strikes, setting back Russian preparation days, if not weeks till new equipment can arrive. The GBU-39 air-launched bombs that Ukrainians are using show incredible resistance to Russian GPS jamming, as a total of five bridges were hit and completely destroyed. Simultaneously, Ukrainian FPV drone operators are striking Russian tanks as they are moving up their remaining reserves all the way near the frontline, most notably scoring a confirmed hit on a modern T-90M Proryv tank near the village of Terny.

Unfortunately for the Russians, Ukrainian reinforcements have strengthened their position, as a new tube artillery brigade recently augmented the 3rd Army Corps. The 52nd Separate Artillery Brigade, created and publicized through volunteer fundraising and unit announcements, has been added. Notably, this unit sports domestically produced Bohdana self-propelled artillery systems, alongside other 152-155 millimeter tube artillery. This addition places significantly more sustained firepower directly to the Li-man sector, able to engage river approaches, road nodes, and staging areas repeatedly and accurately, while moving away before being hit by Russian counterbattery strikes. Since the reinforcements arrived, Ukrainian artillery has been busy, as multiple shows of complete fire control confirm coordinated tube artillery missions against Russian ground lines of communication, bridging works, and rear-area reserves. Geolocated footage shows towed and self-propelled guns firing in registered missions, followed by observable secondary explosions on targeted crossings and Russian vehicle concentrations. The combined effect is immediate, as even Russian engineers cannot construct crossings under sustained Ukrainian artillery fire, and Russian reserve armor is eliminated or dispersed before it can mass.

Operationally, this shifts the dynamics in two decisive ways: firstly, the range and volume of Ukrainian tube artillery now cover the full depth of Russian crossing sites, meaning Ukrainians no longer rely solely on air or FPV strikes to stop Russian bridge-building and assault preparations. Secondly, the detection-to-engagement chain has drastically shortened, as Ukrainian reconnaissance drones spot crossing works or vehicle concentrations several kilometers back, and the new plentiful artillery crews deliver devastating fire while follow-up drones or artillery strikes exploit the damage and finish off what remains. The result is that the large armored thrust planned by the Russians to reach Li-man is being disassembled in stages, before they can even consider launching the attack.

Overall, concentrating armor for a single decisive push has handed Ukraine a predictable series of targets at and makes engineers and bridging crews highly vulnerable while they work. Those Russian bridging assets will be forced to choose between finishing crossings under constant fire or trying dispersed and nocturnal methods that sacrifice the tempo and cohesion needed for a rapid breakthrough. By contrast, Ukraine’s layered interdiction, combining air and FPV strikes with persistent tube artillery fires and targeted air strikes, turns approach roads and river crossings into kill zones rather than simple avenues of advance. If this pattern holds, Li-man will be defended in depth, as the town itself will remain protected and surrounding by pre-designated fire zones and zeroed in highly mobile...