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On June 1, Houthi fighters destroyed an armored personnel carrier (APC) and a vehicle of the Saudi-led coalition along the western Yemeni coast with IEDs and rocket-propelled grenades, according to the Yemeni al-Masirah TV. Reportedly, several Sudanese soldiers, who were aboard the vehicles, were killed and injured.
Al-Masirah also reported that Houthi snipers had killed six Yemeni fighters loyal to Saudi-backed Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi south of the city of al-Hudaydah along the western Yemeni coast.
From its side, the Saudi-led coalition and its Yemen proxies repelled an attack of the Houthis on their positions around the village of al-Vas south of al-Hudaydah. According to the UAE-based Sky News Arabia TV, the coalition killed ten fighters of the Houthis during the clashes.
Meanwhile, the UAE-based al-Arabiya TV reported that the Saudi-led coalition is preparing to attack the Houthis inside al-Hudaydah from three directions. The TV station added that the first target of the coalition will be the al-Hudaydah airport south of the city.
The Saudi-led coalition will likely launch its attack on al-Hudaydah in the upcoming days, according to some local observers, who doubt that the Houthis will manage to defend their positions inside the city.
If Houthi fighters had the support of Russian advisers, Ryad would be besieged today.
I assume you mean ‘advisors’ in quotes. Not just small scale support. The Russian willingness to do so is nil, they’re downsizing their army. The logistics of that action would also be a nightmare, geography would give the Saudis the advantage. Besides the Cold War style web of alliances that rule out any Russian offensive anyway.
With a position like this, I doubt if that happens, at all. Everybody is rushing to condemn Yemeni retaliatory attack on Saudi installations, but keep quite on the cause of this retaliation which is bombing and murder of Yemeni civilians.
Yemen is alone in this carnage, sadly. Even Iran’s “support” is merely cheering and political/moral support.
The Houthis really have nothing to prevent the Saudi encirclement. In many ways this was inevitable, geography is a very unforgiving science.