How UKraine Is Turning Cross-Border Attack Into Another Attrition Trap For Russia

The cross-border attack is not just an embarrassment for Putin, it is a means of drawing Russian troops from elsewhere on the front lines. 

And since Tetkino is surrounded by Ukrainian territory on three sides, it is a perfect area in which to decimate counterattacking Russians. JL 

David Axe reports in Forbes:

Enough legionnaires got across the border to drive out the police and soldiers garrisoning Tetkino. As the Liberty of Russia Legion dug in, a spokesman promised “a difficult night” for any counterattacking Russians. The raid could draw Russian forces away from the front line in Ukraine. Tetkino lies inside a 25-square-mile salient jutting into Ukraine. Ukrainian territory surrounds it on three sides. Worse for the Russians in Tetkino, a river abuts the town on the west, meaning there’s just one way into the town from RussiaAs the raid developed, the legionnaires shot down a Russian air force Sukhoi Su-27 fighter over Belgorod.

Ukraine just invaded Russia. Again.

But don’t get too excited. It’s just a small cross-border raid along a stretch of the front where no one expects either the Ukrainians or the Russians to achieve a major breakthrough.

Which is not to say the raid on the border town of Tetkino, in southwestern Russia 30 miles north of the Ukrainian city of Sumy, is pointless. Leaving aside the propaganda value, the raid could draw Russian forces away from the front line in Ukraine.

The problem, of course, is that the raid into Belgorod Oblast also draws Ukrainian forces away from the front line.

The Liberty of Russia Legion, part of the Ukrainian foreign legion—itself subordinate to the intelligence directorate in Kyiv—launched the cross-border raid overnight or early this morning. As the raid developed, the legionnaires or supporting forces reportedly shot down a Russian air force Sukhoi Su-27 fighter over Belgorod.

The Liberty of Russia Legion recruits Russians who oppose the regime of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. Its two battalions, each with a few hundred people, previously fought in the grueling urban battle in and around Avdiivka, in eastern Ukraine.

The legion seemingly ran into trouble at the border checkpoint adjacent to Tetkino, where one of its T-64 tanks apparently ran over a mine. But enough legionnaires got across the border to drive out the police and soldiers garrisoning Tetkino. As the Liberty of Russia Legion dug in, a spokesman promised “a difficult night” for any counterattacking Russians.

A counterattack is inevitable. The Liberty of Russia Legion and other volunteer units since last spring have conducted several cross-border raids, occasionally capturing a few Russian troops and destroying a few Russian vehicles. Each time, the legionnaires withdrew as larger and more powerful Russian units massed for an attack.

If there’s any reason to hope for a different outcome in Tetkino, it’s the unique geography of the surrounding area. Tetkino lies inside a 25-square-mile salient jutting into Ukraine. Ukrainian territory surrounds it on three sides. Worse for the Russians in Tetkino, a river abuts the town on the west, meaning there’s just one way into the town from Russia—and precious little room to maneuver.

If the Ukrainian army has deployed artillery around the salient—and that’s a big if, given how much Ukraine has struggled to acquire shells and rockets—The Liberty of Russia Legion might be able to hang on in Tetkino longer than usual for this kind of cross-border raid.

The best-case scenario, for the Ukrainians and their Russian allies, is that the legionnaires settle into Tetkino and, calling in artillery fire on any counterattacking forces, turn the town into an attrition trap for the Russians.

Don’t be surprised if that’s what happens in the coming hours and days. The Ukrainians are adept at setting attrition traps. We saw it in Avdiivka and, before that, Marinka and Vuhledar and Bakhmut.

But don’t be surprised if that’s not what happens. The government in Kyiv is in a state of paralysis as it mulls an urgent, but unpopular, mobilization bill that would raise hundreds of thousands of fresh troops—and restore depleted brigades to their full strength.

Until the bill passes, able-bodied combatants are a non-renewable resource in Ukraine. It’s not clear a cross-border raid, even one that might turn into an attrition trap, is the best use of this precious resource.