WSJ: Breakthrough In Verbove Opens AFU Way To Three Big Cities In South At Once

Ukrainian army is widening "cracks" in the main Russian defence system.

After the Ukrainian military broke through Russia's fortified defence line in the Zaporizhzhia direction, Western intelligence agencies have become cautiously optimistic about the AFU's further advance, The Wall Street Journal writes, citing sources.

Western intelligence agencies have become optimistic about the possible seizure of the town of Tokmak in Zaporizhzhia region (about 20 kilometres south of Robotyne) back under Ukrainian control after the Ukrainian armed forces' successes in recent days, senior Western intelligence officials told WSJ.

The Russian army uses Tokmak as a logistics centre on this section of the front.

A Ukrainian officer, on condition of anonymity, told the newspaper that the AFU had approached the main Russian defences near the village of Verbove (southeast of Rabotino) and had broken through them.

The military are now trying to widen the "cracks" in the Russian defences so that armoured vehicles provided by Western countries can pass through the Surovikin Line.

According to the newspaper's assessment, the WSJ's success on this section of the front has probably become the main threat to Russian forces.

The source told WSJ that Russian forces were very well fortified on this defensive line and had no intention of retreating.

The fact that the Russian military planned to stay there for a long time is evidenced by the carpets and paintings that the Ukrainian military found in the captured dugouts.

The breakthrough in Verbove may open the way for the Ukrainian army to Berdyansk and Mariupol, and an advance southwards to Tokmak, the WSJ wrote.

At the same time, serious obstacles to turning the advance beyond the first line of defence into a full-fledged breakthrough remain, the newspaper said.

Russia is attacking Ukrainian troops with artillery, using UAVs, and has probably sent reinforcements in that direction.

The Ukrainian officer told WSJ that there are so many drones flying in some places that Ukrainians call what is happening "Borispol" (that's the name of Kyiv International Airport).

According to Ukrainian soldiers, US deliveries of cluster munitions have had a significant impact on the situation on the front, as the AFU is using them to attack Russian troops in open terrain.

However, the Ukrainians cannot use the armoured vehicles supplied by the West now: they are large and immediately come under fire when they appear on the battlefield.

Earlier it was reported that the Ukrainian military broke through the first "Surovikin line" near Verbove.

"Surovikin Line" are defensive structures that Russia has built in the occupied territories of Ukraine and in the Russian regions bordering Ukraine.

Two lines consisting of trenches and "dragon's teeth" have been built in the southern direction. The first line runs, among other things, through Verbove. The second runs further south.