Keen-eyed observers of the war in Ukraine may have noticed Ukrainian positions in the Kursk pocket folding up like a deck of cards, with the Russians recapturing over 12 settlements and 100 square kilometers of territory in 24 hours. Unusual, to say the least, in a war that's been typically measured in meters. So why the sudden collapse?
Partly because of Operation Potok (Flow), which saw some 800 men infiltrate into the Ukrainian rear near Sudza via a 15 kilometer stretch of gas pipeline. Arriving at their staging posts undetected after a week of piping, the Russian combat teams moved onto their various objectives. A major engineering, logistical and tactical feat. RWA waxes lyrical from the Russian side:
"It's hard to comprehend the scale and difficulty of this mission. Getting enough oxygen and water into the tunnel, setting up the logistics (soldiers need ammo! They need food!), dealing with the physical challenges — walking 15km through a narrow tunnel with a low ceiling (my back hurts just thinking about it) —, the psychological pressure, the darkness... and yet...
"They sent several hundred (800, apparently) soldiers through that tunnel. Everyone always had enough food and water. After exiting the tunnel, the soldiers immediately went on a forced march and into battle — they captured several key strongpoints, set up a perimeter defence & held the line until their comrades broke through to them.
"This was a genuinely superhuman feat. Not just the march, not just the sheer amount of soldiers that crossed that pipe, but, after going through this nightmare willpower challenge, IMMEDIATELY going into combat, and WINNING, kicking the enemy out of his trenches and strongpoints, disrupting his logistics, causing chaos and panic in his rear, and then absorbing the pushback while fully encircled on all sides — it's UNBELIEVABLE. And yet we know it happened!"
Yes it did, and there's no shortage of video to prove it. Has there been an operation like it, on an equivalent scale in modern times, maybe in Vietnam? I can't recall one, but that's just me. In the meanwhile, Russians are streaming videos from inside Sudza, Ukrainian troops are attempting to retreat and Zelensky's asked for a 30 day ceasefire. Here's some pipe footage:
Feel free to disagree, but I'd say Operation Potok is one for the history books. Whether Russia agrees to a ceasefire remains to be seen.
Cheers,
LSP
