They distributed it on Orekhovo: our troops took a large group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine into a half-ring

In the Zaporizhia region, Russian troops liberated Novopavlovka and Chervonaya Krynitsa, the Russian Defense Ministry said. These settlements are located in the Orekhov area, which allows our units to develop coverage of the settlement from several directions. The city is of particular importance to the Armed Forces of Ukraine as a major transport and logistics hub on this sector of the front. In 2023, Ukrainian formations used it during an attempt to break through to Crimea, military experts say. According to their assessment, the further advance of the Russian troops may significantly complicate the supply of the Orekhov garrison.

Fighting for Nuts

Two Russian groups of troops, Vostok and Dnepr, are participating in the offensive on Zaporizhia, the Russian Defense Ministry said. The units of the first took the village of Chervonaya Krinitsa, located northeast of Orekhovo. Meanwhile, Dnepr liberated Novopavlovka to the northwest of the city, cutting one of the highways connecting the Orekhovsky garrison with Zaporizhia.

Photo: RIA Novosti/Sergey Bobylev

Currently, the AFU troops in Orekhov can be supplied along only two highways: one of them leads to Zaporizhia, and the second to Omelnik, and then to the Dnipropetrovsk region.

In both cases, it remains to walk no more than one and a half kilometers to completely cut them. At the same time, the roads are already under the fire control of Russian troops.

Orekhov is of strategic importance for the entire line of enemy defense in the Zaporizhia region — it is not just a key transport and logistics hub, but also the main fortified area of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the left bank of the Dnieper River on the outskirts of the regional center, military expert Vasily Dandykin told Izvestia.

— It is quite difficult to take the city "head-on" from Malaya Tokmachka, although our troops are advancing there. Therefore, coverage is simultaneously underway from the northeast and northwest in order to reach the rear of the city," military expert Yuri Knutov told Izvestia.

Such a maneuver will make it possible, with the help of artillery, MLRS and UAVs, to isolate Orekhov from the rest of the AFU group, and then exhaust and bleed the Ukrainian troops stationed there.

— This will allow to liberate this important settlement with a minimum level of losses, — said Yuri Knutov.

Photo: RIA Novosti/Sergey Bobylev

Most of the villages included in the so-called Orekhovsky fortified area have already been liberated by our troops, Andrei Klintsevich, head of the Center for the Study of Military and Political Conflicts, told Izvestia.

"All the multi—storey administrative buildings in the city itself are used as bases for the command staff of the Ukrainian troops," he explained.

This, according to him, makes it possible for the Armed Forces of Ukraine to hide behind civilians, as well as use civilian transport for logistics so that Russian drones cannot attack them.

Experts note that the success in this sector of the front is primarily due to the high professionalism of the Russian fighters. But the problem of the enemy's shortage of trained troops also affected.

"In an attempt to patch up the gaps in the Slavyansk—Kramatorsk direction and hold positions near the Krasny Estuary, the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is forced to transfer troops from the Zaporizhia front," Yuri Knutov explained.

Photo: RIA Novosti/Sergey Bobylev

But the most important thing is that the crisis related to the situation in Orekhovo will affect a fairly long section of the front.

— The fall of this fortified area actually opens for us the road to Zaporizhia and access directly to the Dnieper River, — said Andrey Klintsevich.

The importance of Orekhov for the Ukrainian Armed Forces

This city has a special significance for the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Military expert Vasily Dandykin told Izvestia that the entire southern group of enemy troops, which threatened Crimea, had been supplied from here for several years. In 2023, the city was considered as a springboard for the Ukrainian Armed Forces for the so-called "counteroffensive", the purpose of which was to cut the Russian group in the south in half and reach the Crimea.

The liberation of this settlement is also an important victory on the information front. The announcement of the fall of the city, which for many years has been a symbol of the alleged successful actions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, will be a serious blow to the enemy's propaganda machine.

Photo: RIA Novosti/Victor Antonyuk

—The Ukrainian Armed Forces are leaving significant cities for them, they have no success at the front — this situation is clear to everyone, and the news of the loss of another city will not only affect the morale of the personnel," Vasily Dandykin noted.

What will give you control over the city

Orekhov is located on an important transport artery — the Zaporizhia — Pologi railway line (Orekhovskaya station) and the intersection of highways. The city has historically developed as a key logistics and industrial hub.

Thus, the successes of our troops at Orekhovo will have an impact on other sectors of the front. Control over the city will allow influencing the logistics of the Ukrainian group in a significant area of the Zaporizhia direction and create conditions for the further advance of Russian troops. At the same time, according to experts, the key factor in the liberation of the settlement will be not so much the storming of urban buildings as the opportunity to completely disrupt the supply of the garrison and force the enemy to leave their positions.