Ukrainian HIMARS Destroy Russian Tank Convoy Advancing On Pokrovsk

There are two aspects of this incident that are particularly interesting. 

The first is that it is yet another report of assertive Ukrainian intelligence combining with other military arms - in this case artillery and drones - to deliver another defeat to the Russians as the summer campaigning season winds down. The second is that the unit decimated by this strike had recently been redeployed from Kursk, confirming that the Russians are depleting other sectors to continue their frustrated effort to take Pokrovsk, despite 18 months of failure to do so. JL

Oleksandr Yan reports in Militarnyi:

The paratroopers of the 79th Air Assault Brigade, with support from HIMARS, destroyed a convoy of Russian armored vehicles advancing from a rear area toward Pokrovsk. The mechanized convoy, 10 kilometers in Russia's rear, consisted of seven vehicles, including tanks and infantry fighting vehicles, as well as up to 100 infantrymen, some of whom were moving on motorcycles. The convoy was struck by HIMARS while on the move. After the strike, operators using FPV drones finished off abandoned vehicles. All of the armored vehicles in the assault group had been destroyed, and at least 50 Russian soldiers neutralized.

The paratroopers of the 79th Air Assault Brigade, with support from HIM
ARS, destroyed a convoy of Russian armored vehicles advancing from a rear area toward Pokrovsk.

Footage of the combat operation was released by operators of the Ivan Franko Group, part of the 79th Air Assault Brigade.

On the evening of August 28th, the unit’s aerial reconnaissance detected the movement of a Russian assault convoy about 10 kilometers deep in enemy rear territory. The convoy was moving out from the village of Prohres toward Malynivka, located east of Pokrovsk.

 

The mechanized convoy consisted of seven vehicles, including tanks and infantry fighting vehicles, as well as up to 100 infantrymen, some of whom were moving on motorcycles.

Following target designation by the operators, the convoy was struck by a HIMARS rocket while on the move. After the strike, operators from the Ivan Franko Group joined the attack on the disorganized group using FPV drones. During the final stage, as abandoned vehicles were being finished off, the rocket system delivered another strike, completing the operation.

 

The paratroopers reported that, through joint efforts, all of the armored vehicles in the assault group had been destroyed, and at least 50 Russian soldiers – neutralized.

They suggested that the enemy group might have belonged to a unit of the Russian military force recently redeployed to the Donetsk region from Russia’s Kursk region, including the 155th Guards Naval Infantry Brigade of the Russian Armed Forces.

 

The appearance of units from another sector near Pokrovsk could explain the use of a large number of armored vehicles in an area where, for a long time, Russian forces had been relying exclusively on small infantry groups to minimize losses from drones.

Due to heavy losses and relatively modest gains, the enemy’s tactics shifted toward infiltration through the so-called ‘gray zone’ under drone surveillance, followed by the buildup of forces for assault operations.

Recently, the enemy has also begun to infiltrate rear areas through the defensive lines, which has led to the formation of a ‘salient’ in the direction of the settlements of Zolotyi Kolodiaz and Vesele.

It is worth noting that it was the paratroopers of the 79th Air Assault Brigade who had carried out the encirclement and clearing of Russian infantry units that had penetrated those settlements without any support.

Map of the front line as of September 1st, 2025. Photo credits: DeepState

Militarnyi previously reported that during the liberation of Volodymyrivka, the soldiers of the 253rd Assault Battalion had captured a group of Russian soldiers, including residents from Makiivka and Mariupol.