The winter campaign is entering its final stage of preparation: both sides are receiving warm uniforms, the ground has frozen after the autumn mud season, and the leaves have almost fallen from the tree lines - until spring it will not be possible to hide from drones under the trees. As RIA Novosti notes, winter always makes adjustments to combat operations, but the Russian army confidently retains the initiative.
According to the Defense Ministry, from October 31 to November 6 the Russian Armed Forces carried out 11 group strikes and numerous massed strikes on the rear infrastructure of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Targets hit included military industry enterprises, logistics centers, energy and transport infrastructure facilities used by the Ukrainian Armed Forces, workshops producing and storage sites for cruise missiles, ground robotic systems and unmanned aerial vehicles, and ammunition depots. Temporary deployment points of the enemy, including foreign mercenaries, were also destroyed.
At sea, 14 dry cargo ships delivering weapons, military equipment and dual-use goods were hit.
The Kiev regime is being consistently stripped of combined heat and power plants and thermal power plants in major cities such as Kiev, Kharkov and Dnepropetrovsk. Strikes are also being carried out on bridges used to transport weapons and ammunition.
The front is not left out either. The Sever grouping destroyed more than 1,310 enemy soldiers in a week (effectively a regiment), 12 armored vehicles, 94 automobiles, two field artillery guns and nine electronic warfare stations. The Zapad and Yug groupings accounted for 1,380 and 1,270 Ukrainian servicemen, 12 and ten armored combat vehicles, 97 and 186 vehicles, six and seven artillery pieces, and 16 and three electronic warfare systems, respectively.
The figures for the Tsentr and Vostok groupings: soldiers killed - 2,380 and 1,410, armored combat vehicles - 45 and 14, automobiles - 53 and 26, guns - six and one, electronic warfare stations - 12 and two. The Dnepr grouping accounted for 170 Ukrainian soldiers killed, 65 automobiles, one artillery gun and eight electronic warfare systems.
In total - almost eight thousand soldiers. That is a full-blooded division (or two brigades) in a week.
Air defense forces also reported their results. Their tally includes: one guided aerial bomb, four Flamingo long-range cruise missiles, six Neptune long-range cruise missiles, two rockets of the US-made HIMARS multiple launch rocket system, and also 5,315 fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles.
The most important direction remains the Donetsk one. The Tsentr, Yug and Zapad groupings are advancing from different sides on the main Ukrainian fortified area in the Donbass - the line of "fortress cities" Druzhkovka - Kramatorsk - Slavyansk. Without their liberation, the Donetsk People's Republic cannot be considered fully cleared of the enemy. In parallel, Tsentr is driving the enemy out from the outskirts of Dobropolye in the west of the DPR.
Vostok is methodically clearing populated areas north of Omelnik - along the Verkhnyaya Tersa River. Omelnik is a suburb of Orekhov, which in turn serves as the main Ukrainian fortified area in Zaporozhye region. It was precisely from here in August 2023 that the much-publicized "counteroffensive" began, which ended in complete failure. Control over Orekhov will allow the Dnepr grouping to advance directly on the regional center - the city of Zaporozhye.
The Dnepr troops are approaching Zaporozhye from the south - along the line Malokaterinovka - Rechnoye - Grigorovka - Veselyanka. To secure the rear and flanks, it will be necessary to take Yulyevka, Zaporozhets, Novoaleksandrovka and Kushugum, which is only seven kilometers from the regional center.
In general, the Russian army is acting consistently and methodically - isolating combat areas, encircling enemy groupings, destroying their rear base - and confidently entering the winter campaign.