The Russian army's sudden advance westward touched the "central nerve" of the Ukrainian war

Russian Ministry of Defense 6 A battle report released on 8th on the 8th shocked international public opinion - the 90th Guard Tank Division, which belongs to the "Central" combat cluster, broke through the western defense line of Donetsk and extended its combat tentacles to Dnepropetrovsk Oblast in central Ukraine for the first time. This industrial center, regarded by Western military observers as the "strategic gate of Ukraine", is experiencing the most dangerous moment since the conflict broke out in 2022.

Russian notification shows that after completing the breakthrough of the western Donetsk border, the armored force continued to advance westward for about 25 kilometers and entered the plains of Dnepropetrovsk Oblast. Satellite images show that the Russian mechanized columns formed a multi-way parallel advance on the open terrain. This typical "armored wedge" tactic was tried and tested on the Eastern Front of World War II.

This industrial city with a century-old history has special strategic value: Dnepropetrovsk is not only the largest rocket engine manufacturing center in Ukraine, but its railway hub also connects the three strategic areas of Kharkov, Zaporozhe and Odessa. The Pentagon's 2023 assessment report pointed out that the loss of the region will lead to "systemic loopholes" in the defense system on the southern front of the Ukrainian army.

Faced with the Russian war report, the Ukrainian military had subtle differences. The General Staff has remained silent until now, but the front-line commander Major Trehubov called the Russian military war report a "typical information smoke bomb" through social media. However, anonymous Ukrainian military personnel revealed to AFP that the objective dilemma of lack of fortifications in the plains is emerging, and the defense lines in some areas have retreated more than 10 kilometers.

It is worth noting that the Russian army's sudden advance coincided with the third day after NATO Secretary-General Stoltenberg's secret visit to Kiev. Analysts at the American War Institute noted that Moscow may attempt to use the battlefield to hedge against the latest promised F-16 fighter aid. In an interview, Kovarenko, former chairman of the Dnepropetrovsk Prefecture Parliament, said worryingly: "The terrain here is like an open safe. Russians can drive in as long as they get the password."

In the view of international observers, although this advancement has not changed the overall balance of power, it has exposed the fatal shortcomings of the Ukrainian defense system - the 1,000-kilometer contact line consumes excessive force, and the defense depth in key areas is less than 30 kilometers. What is even more disturbing is that the Russian armored cluster is only 70 kilometers away from the Dnieper River, and this natural barrier was once the last support for Kiev to build an eastern defense line.

When Moscow claimed that its tactical nuclear weapons remained in a "special state of combat readiness", Kremlin spokesman Peskov emphasized that this was "purely defensive." However, military experts from the Brussels think tank warned that if the Russian army gained a foothold in Dnepropetrovsk Oblast, it may use this as a springboard in the future to form a "east-east-to-east attack" against the remnants of the Ukrainian Donbas cluster.

What is the real strategic intention behind the fog of this military operation? Is there a risk of systemic collapse in the Ukrainian military defense line? When the plains encounter a torrent of steel, can Kyiv still maintain its last strategic fulcrum? To what extent will the international community's security commitment be transformed into actual checks and balances on the battlefield? These questions are becoming increasingly sharp as the tank track advances.