Ukraine devastates Russian artillery.

Operation Ashan

The armed forces of Ukraine (AFU) have just completed another dramatic and successful operation in Donbas and Luhansk oblasts along the full length of their eastern front.

Ukraine’s ‘Operation Auchan’ has been operating for the past six months and has significantly disrupted enemy mechanized offensives, halting Russian momentum through coordinated drone strikes and intelligence-driven planning.

Phase two was named ‘Ashan.’ It’s mission was to destroy a multitude of Russian heavy guns in a single decisive blow. Rather than knock out individual gun groups in day-by-day opportunity actions the AFU paused to collate their intelligence and build a picture of all Russian gun positions; where they were, and where they could be predicted to go under fire. These were all collated into a single assault plan.

They prepared and concentrated enough drone operators and ammunition along a four-hundred-kilometre front in preparation to mount a two-day mass drone assault which simultaneously attacked more than two-hundred-gun emplacements. Initial reports indicate they destroyed at least 171 guns. Others were hit cannot be verified so more could probably be added to the total.

An artillery gun is essentially a barrel on a mount. The strongest part of the weapon is the barrel. It contains the explosive propellant which launches the shell. Barrels are high tech’ precision weapons. If the barrel fails. the gun and its crew will be wiped out. Barrels wear out and need to be replaced when they have reached their established safety limits.

The AFU targeted the barrels with high explosive anti-tank (HEAT) ordinance. A shaped charge, designed to punch a small hole through tank armour and spray hot metal inside the vehicle and kill the crew. Ukraine utilised this system in combination with highly skilled drone operators to fly HEAT missiles into Russian artillery barrels and punch four-centimetre holes straight through, making the weapon instantly useless and irreparable. This is old anti-tank technology mounted on a new drone platform and targeted with precision.

Russian arms factories in the current climate can only produce five new barrels a month. It would take more than three years to replace these items. One hundred and seventy-one guns is the equivalent of three Russian artillery brigades all wiped out in forty-eight hours.

Operation Ashan has seriously depleted Russian artillery capability along the Donbas front. Russian forces are now unable to halt advancing infantry or suppress enemy artillery fire. They are also unable to cover their own troops when advancing. Russia is unable or unwilling to adapt and will most likely continue to push its infiltration units forward with even less cover, increasing their already considerable manpower losses.

Ukraine could not have mounted this operation without confidence in their air superiority. Hundreds of low velocity drones flew into Russian airspace across the front lines and wiped out their artillery. Ashen is the culmination of a long and calculated plan coming to fruition. Russian losses are unsustainable. If they replace lost artillery with guns from another region they simply expose that area to similar attacks.

Operation Ashan combined with the recent sinking of Russia’s merchant supply fleet in the Sea of Azov are two major victories for Ukraine. They dramatically reduce any fading hopes Putin had of mounting a summer offensive, accelerate the fall of Crimea and push Russia ever closer to serious negotiations.

With little left in their armoury, Russian propaganda teams are currently pushing the fear factor by planting stories about a possible attack on a NATO country. They will of course test our resolve, but they dare not openly attack. Weakened as NATO has become from years of low investment in defence, readers of such threats must bear in mind, Russia cannot defeat Ukraine; Russia is losing this war and cannot afford to start a new battle on a new front. It doesn’t have the allies, men, or materiel to mount such an operation.

Ukrainians don’t shake in their boots, and neither should we!

Slava Ukraini!

I write to fight.

Robin Horsfall

(Give me a hand please. Upgrade to paid)