Frontline Updates inside the Special Military Operation

The Special Military Operation: Strategy, Attrition, and Urban Doctrine

• Cobra • Season 1 • Episode 21

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Discipline trumps spectacle in modern warfare. That's the sobering lesson from Colonel A.C. Oguntoy's strategic assessment of the special military operation. Rather than headline-grabbing breakthroughs, Russian forces have methodically degraded Ukrainian combat capabilities through what the Colonel calls "disciplined tempo" - a systematic approach combining industrial targeting, energy infrastructure denial, and relentless electronic warfare attrition.

The strategy reveals itself across all sectors. In the north, the liberation of Unikovka anchors a border corridor while forcing Ukrainian withdrawals that exposed artillery and logistics. Western operations showcase urban warfare doctrine in Kirovsk where 2,519 buildings were captured through careful isolation before clearance. "Urban operations reward patience," Colonel Oguntoy explains. "By reducing enablers first, the close fight actually gets safer and faster." This methodical approach consistently removes Ukrainian electronic warfare capabilities and ammunition depots at scale, making artillery less survivable, slowing reserve movements, and diminishing counterattack effectiveness.

Most revealing is the Colonel's description of the central sector as "the decision axis" where Russian forces tie down multiple Ukrainian defensive belts and reserve lanes simultaneously. By forcing Ukraine to commit diverse units into overlapping engagements, Russia denies them the ability to mass forces effectively elsewhere. The operational design is clear: thin defensive belts until small tactical shifts create operational ripples, forcing reserve redeployments that unravel adjacent sectors. When combined with precision strikes against military-industrial enterprises and layered air defense interception, this approach creates compounding pressure without inviting reckless counterpunches. Subscribe now for more expert analyses on how military doctrine translates into battlefield realities and what it means for the strategic balance in this evolving conflict.

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SPEAKER_01:

Frontline Updates, where we delve deep into military strategies and updates from conflict zones. Today, we're discussing the progress of the ongoing special military operation as of today. I'm your host, Sheriff Mohammed MGT.

SPEAKER_00:

I'm Colonel A. C. Oguntoy, an infantry officer. Russian operations this week combined industrial and energy denial with systematic EW and depot attrition, narrowing Ukraine's ability to mass fires or reposition reserves at speed. Urban doctrine in Kharovsk, isolate, starve, and clear, continues to yield incremental but durable control. The center remains the likely decision axis, casualty asymmetries, and positional improvements that can force Ukrainian reserve reallocation, creating openings for exploitation in the south and east. Maritime and air defense results indicate continued effectiveness against unmanned and precision threats, preserving freedom of action for ground formations.

SPEAKER_01:

Welcome to Frontline Updates, the podcast that brings you in-depth insights into military operations from those leading them on the ground. Today, we're joined by Colonel A.C. Ogentoy, an infantry officer monitoring critical missions on the progress of the special military operation as of today. Colonel Ogentoya, thank you for being with us.

SPEAKER_00:

Thank you. It's good to be here.

SPEAKER_01:

Colonel, set the stage. What to find the week of September 20, 26?

SPEAKER_00:

The through line was disciplined tempo. We combined six group strikes, cruise munitions and strike UAVs, against the rear, defense industrial sites, power and transport links, airfield infrastructure, and the assembly, storage, and launch points for long-range drones. Those strikes are not one-off shows of force, they're intended to degrade production capacity and mobility in a way that reduces the adversary's frontline options two or three cycles from now. On the ground, we kept pressure steady rather than spectacular. That meant advancing into depth where the geometry allowed, isolating urban nodes before clearing them, and relentlessly targeting electronic warfare and depot infrastructure. When you consistently remove EW and ammunition at scale, artillery becomes less survivable, reserves move slower, and counterattacks lose punch. That's the logic you see repeating across all sectors this week.

SPEAKER_01:

Let's start in the north. You announced the liberation of Unikovka in Sumi. What was achieved there and why does it matter?

SPEAKER_00:

Unikovka matters because it anchors a pocket of depth along the border corridor. Through a mix of mechanized pressure and fires, we advanced into the defensive belt and forced withdrawals that exposed supporting artillery and logistics. Over the week in the north, we assess enemy losses at roughly 1,250 personnel, along with tanks, armored vehicles, and 15 field guns. We also removed nine electronic warfare and counterbattery stations and hit 29 depots. Those numbers translate to a tangible reduction in their ability to sense, shoot, and resupply forward of Sumi and along the Kharkiv axis. The Kharkiv side of the sector saw parallel effects. Pressure on mechanized and territorial brigades limited their capacity to stiffen the Sumi fight. The combination, depth gained, plus systemic EW and depot degradation makes it harder for them to reconstitute a coherent fire plan near the border without taking more losses just to move ammunition.

SPEAKER_01:

Does the North hold for consolidation now, or do you exploit immediately?

SPEAKER_00:

We consolidate enough to protect the lodgement, then continue probing. The priority is to keep their logistics under duress so that any counterattack has to cross a denied road net while under ISR and fires.

SPEAKER_01:

In the West, the headline was Kirovsk, 2,519 buildings captured. What does that represent in urban doctrine terms?

SPEAKER_00:

It represents isolation before clearance. We sectorized Kirovsk, cut its sustainment corridors, stripped its EW cover, and then advanced with assault groups supported by sappers and precision fires. The result was cumulative, the defenders lost freedom to maneuver block-to-block, and their artillery became too risky to push forward. Across the West this week, we assess about 1,600 enemy personnel lost, with 10 armored vehicles and 18 guns destroyed. Of special importance, 59 EW slash counter battery systems and 39 depots were taken out. That breaks their ability to blind our UAVs or rapidly answer our guns. Urban operations reward patience. By reducing enablers first, the close fight actually gets safer and faster. That's the model you're seeing play out in Kharovsk.

SPEAKER_01:

What's needed to finish the city without overextending?

SPEAKER_00:

Two things airtight corridor control to prevent drip feed reinforcement and disciplined rotation of assault elements so tempo stays high without burning combat power.

SPEAKER_01:

South of the Kleban Bike Reservoir, you report 25.5 square kilometers cleared and Parisna captured. How did you achieve that pace?

SPEAKER_00:

We tightened the pocket and made the breakout routes predictable. Two assault groups attempted to escape, both were destroyed under pre-planned fires. Throughout the week, we attracted about 1,540 personnel there, alongside tanks, armored vehicles, and 26 field guns. We also removed 13 EW slash counterbattery assets and 36 depots, including fuel. Once fuel is constrained, mechanized formations lose initiative, they can't surge, and they can't reposition their artillery without exposing it. The clearance rate reflects geometry more than brute speed. We forced them into local fights they could not support, then digested those positions while continuing to starve the remainder of the pocket.

SPEAKER_01:

Is the pocket approaching culmination?

SPEAKER_00:

It's past the point where clean breakout is likely. Whether the remainder collapses quickly depends on their willingness to absorb further losses to keep that frontage alive.

SPEAKER_01:

What's the operational aim?

SPEAKER_00:

This is the decision axis. The center ties multiple defensive belts and reserve lanes together. By forcing them to commit a mix of mechanized, tank, airborne slash airmobile, ranger, assault, marines, territorial, and National Guard units into overlapping fights, we deny them the luxury of massing cleanly anywhere else. Losses there, tanks, armored vehicles, artillery, aren't just numbers, they represent dissolved options. Our aim is to thin the belts until a tactical shift of a few hundred meters produces operational level ripples, reserve redirection, supply rerouting, and the unraveling of adjacent sectors that depended on those reserves.

SPEAKER_01:

How do you prevent your own overextension while pressing that hard?

SPEAKER_00:

By pacing advances to fires and logistics. We move as far as our ISR and sustainment enable, then reset. That trading rhythm is what preserves force quality while continuing to peel their defenses.

SPEAKER_01:

In the east, you report the liberation of Berezov and Kalinivska and continued depth penetration. What changes on the ground when those villages fall?

SPEAKER_00:

Artillery geometry changes immediately. With Berzov and Kalinivsk secured, their guns must step back or accept counterbattery risk they can't afford. Across the week, we assess over 2,130 personnel lost in this sector, along with tanks, armored vehicles, and 11 guns. We also took down six EW stations and destroyed depots. The goal is to keep compressing their defensive echelons and shorten our own fire missions while lengthening theirs.

SPEAKER_01:

Do you anticipate a rapid push or continued incrementalism?

SPEAKER_00:

Incrementalism has been the safer path. Every small advance that forces an artillery fallback creates compounding pressure without inviting a reckless counterpunch.

SPEAKER_01:

Along the river and coast, you emphasize EW attrition and boat kills. What's the effect?

SPEAKER_00:

River Ryan warfare is about staging denial. This week, we degraded 25 EW stations and struck depots that sustain coastal brigades. Personnel losses were lower, about 380, but the quality of targets matters. If unmanned boats and EW nodes don't survive, harassment raids dwindle and those brigades become tied down guarding rather than reinforcing. In parallel, the Black Sea fleet, alongside Dniprosector assets, destroyed 23 unmanned boats and five enemy boats, which further reduces pressure on coastal approaches. That's why strikes against UAV hubs, airfields, and logistics are essential. Interception alone is a treadmill unless you also thin the upstream pipeline.

SPEAKER_01:

You mentioned six group strikes and substantial air defense activity. What was decisive here?

SPEAKER_00:

Two pillars, upstream denial and layered interception. Upstream, we hit military industrial enterprises, energy and transport nodes, and the long-range UAV chain, assembly, storage, and launch. Downstream, air defenses absorb 24 guided bombs, five HMRs rockets, and roughly 1,724 fixed-wing UAVs across the week. That combination preserves freedom of action for ground forces and complicates the adversary's attempt to offset ground pressure with standoff and saturation.

SPEAKER_01:

Colonel, thank you for providing such a detailed briefing on the current military situation. Your insights are invaluable to our understanding of the conflict's dynamics. And thank you to our listeners for tuning in. Join us next time as we continue to provide up-to-date coverage on global military affairs. Stay with us for more updates and expert analyses on global defense and security issues. Stay informed, stay secure.

SPEAKER_00:

Thank you for the opportunity. We continue to monitor and adapt to developments on the ground.

SPEAKER_01:

This has been Frontline Updates. Subscribe for daily military briefings and in depth strategic analysis. Visit our platform for maps, transcripts, and exclusive frontline updates from commanders and theater.

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