EXTENSIVE RUSSIAN RESCUE MISSION FAILED

Today, there are a lot of interesting updates from the Kursk direction.

Here, after spending too much time fighting alongside North Korean troops, the Russians have started borrowing their tactics in a desperate attempt to break the siege on their stranded allies in Nikolske. But as they charged forward in human waves, draped in Soviet flags and straight into Ukrainian fire, their rescue mission quickly turned into yet another battlefield catastrophe.

The goal of the Russian forces in this area is to reach the village of Nikolske and relieve the North Korean soldiers stuck on the outer edges of the settlement, left over from the previous assaults. This is because Ukrainians maintain strict fire control over all supply lines Nikolske, leaving the North Koreans completely cut off from resupply for over a week now. 

To prevent Ukrainians from capturing a large part of the North Korean contingent, Russians attempted to link up with their allies by launching a massive mechanized assault over the fields. 

Russians hoped that the mechanized assault units would be able to provide enough of a firepower advantage through their tanks and BMP infantry fighting vehicles, to expand their area of control and relieve the North Koreans.

The main advantage of the Russian forces in this area is the extremely cold weather that has caused the ground to freeze solid, enabling Russian armor to move freely across the fields instead of being restricted to the heavily mined roads. Furthermore, if we look at the topographic map, we can see that the Russian approaches are largely shielded from Ukrainian firing positions by a hill ridge, which shields them against targeting by Ukrainian ATGM positions for a large portion of their journey. 

However, the Russian forces are severely disadvantaged once they cross the ridge, as they are directly exposed to Ukrainian fire on the hill ridge in the east, firing on top of the armored assault groups. Furthermore, the lack of tree lines in this last part of the journey gives Russians no cover for the most dangerous portion of their assaults.

Unfortunately for Russians, Ukrainians decided to make this already deadly kill zone even worse for the Russian armor. Ukrainians used remote mining techniques with drones and artillery to scatter a large number of landmines across these fields and, in the process, extending the minefield from around the roads to now fill the entire field. Additionally, the clear weather allowed Ukrainians to increase their drone surveillance in the area, allowing for the Russian assaults to be detected even before they crested the hill. 

Geolocated combat footage reveals how Russian forces launched mechanized assaults using several BTR armored personnel carriers and tanks. However, the column quickly came under attack by Ukrainian precision strikes, including kamikaze drones, landmines, and artillery fire. 

Notably, Russian soldiers adorned their tanks and vehicles with Soviet flags, attempting to recreate the mass-charges of the past. 

However, as many of the Russian armored personnel carriers and tanks were rapidly being disabled, Russian soldiers resorted to advancing across open fields on foot. These human wave formations, similar to previous North Korean assaults, ended in a complete disaster for the Russian infantry. 

The Russian vehicles that survived the initial ambush pressed forward but were also quickly disabled and destroyed by Ukrainian precision fire, leaving dozens of wrecked vehicles scattered across the fields near Nikolske, as the besieged North Koreans could do nothing but watch the disaster unfold. 

Overall, the Russians conducted a disastrous assault on Nikolske in the hope of relieving the cut-off North Korean forces, only for their plan to backfire due to Ukrainians meticulously preparing a kill zone to efficiently deal with the Russian assault. 

These losses only further drain the already limited Russian reserves while Ukrainians maintain powerful defensive positions that stand despite the intense pressure. 

As the attempt to resupply the North Koreans stuck in Nikolske failed, the survivors of the latest Russian assault will only add to the supply issues, with more mouths to feed and wounded to take care of.