Russian Troops Have No Present For Putin On Invasion's 1st Anniversary

February 24th. It was a year ago today that Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine. Russian forces have been trying for months to deliver something - anything - doesnt even matter if its meaningful - to give Putin something to brag about. 

But as the week comes to an end, Russian assaults everywhere along the line have been repulsed with horrific losses in men and weaponry. Vuhledar is a slaughterhouse. And Bakhmut holds. JL

Mark Sumner reports in Daily Kos:

The biggest news of the day may be how disappointed Vladimir Putin will be. Because on the anniversary of his invasion, it appears his forces have delivered to him … nothing. In a single day, Ukrainian forces repelled no fewer than 90 individual assaults on Ukrainian positions from one end of the line to another. At Vuhledar, failed assaults have resulted in losses so significant "troops from the volunteer Cossack Detachment,  attached to the 155th Marine Brigade of the Russian Pacific Fleet, are refusing to continue to take part in offensive operations due to the failure of the offensive and significant personnel losses."  Oh, and … Bakhmut holds!

Overnight, the Ukrainian military produced its usual graphic showing Russian losses in the illegal invasion. Those losses include 708 men lost in 24 hours. That might seem extraordinary, but over the last month, such numbers have become absolutely typical as Russia has engaged in repeated fruitless attacks against well-defended positions.

 

What is astounding in the numbers reported for Wednesday is the hardware: 16 tanks, 24 APCs, and 7 artillery batteries were lost in a day. That’s amazing. How and where did Russia manage to render so many tons of armor into scrap?

The biggest news of the day may be simply how disappointed Vladimir Putin will be. Because in advance of the anniversary of his invasion, it appears his forces have delivered to him … nothing.

The answer doesn’t seem to be a single massive Russian defeat. Instead, that pile of broken vehicles appears to result from another impressive number, out of the Ukrainian military reports on Tuesday morning: In a single day, Ukrainian forces repelled no fewer than 90 individual assaults on Ukrainian positions from one end of the line to another.

Ukraine repelled assaults on Stelmakhivka west of Svatove, and Bilohorivka south of Kreminna. Interestingly enough, Kreminna itself was on the list of failed assaults. A Russian attempt to remove those Ukrainian forces from the south and west of the city was reportedly one of the biggest failures of the day.

Russian forces failed in attacks in at least six different areas around Bakhmut.  That includes three separate attempts to cross the M03 highway between Orikhovo-Vasylivka and Berkhivka, and more attempts to cross into Bakhmut around that cluster of highway crossings.

Bakhmut. Icons represent failed Russian assaults. Open image in another tab for a larger view.

Interestingly, the command only reported a single failed assault south of the city. Earlier in the week, that effort to cross the highway south of Ivaniske and move toward Chasiv Yar seemed to be the main thrust of Russian activity in the area, but over the last two days, this effort appears to have fizzled.

Oh, and … Bakhmut holds!

In the area west of occupied Donetsk, Russia made assaults toward Novobakhmutivka, Avdiivka, Vodiane, Nevelske, Mariinka, Pobieda, Vuhledar, and Prechystivka. That’s a long list, but thankfully the list of successful advances can be summed up as none of the above. And that assault on Vuhledar? Once again, that’s reportedly one of Russia’s big losses on the day, as they apparently can’t resist decorating those extensively mined fields south and west of the town with still more dead armor. 

An attack east of Prechystivka, about 8km west of Vuldehar, appeared to represent a new vector for Russian assaults. However, it ended as all the others launched on Wednesday: by going nowhere.

Shelling continued along the Zaporizhzhia line and across the river into Kherson, where Russia likes to remind the city they are “Russia forever” by sending them festive incendiary bombs.

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LOSSES BEING DETAILED IN NEAR REAL-TIME

Because so many of the losses are now happening in Russian assaults on Ukrainian positions, vehicles are often filmed by drones and right out in the open for ID. As a result, Oryx is tallying Russian losses about as fast as the Ukrainian military reports them.

RUSSIAN TROOPS REPORTEDLY REBELLING SOUTH OF VUHLEDAR

Failed attempts to capture Vuhledar, bypass Vuhledar, or come anywhere near Vuhledar have become an almost daily occurrence. Several of these failed assaults have resulted in losses so significant they’ve been compared to the Bilohorivka bridge debacle in terms of both the men and machines lost. 

This morning, there are multiple reports that Russia mounted another such assault on Tuesday, resulting in another round of losses on the same stretch of road where literally dozens of burned-out Russian vehicles already litter the shoulders. The reason for that seems to be some severe pressure being applied to Colonel General Rustam Muradov, who is in charge of Russian forces in the area.

Muradov was actually promoted following the first two big failures at Vuhledar, but he was apparently sent back with orders to make it happen. That led to another assault on Wednesday in which at least a half dozen more armored vehicles were reportedly destroyed, along with unknown numbers of troops.

But even if Muradov is feeling the pressure to organize another attack, After watching their fellow soldiers walk to their deaths along the same stretch of road over and over, the Ukrainian ministry of defense reports that Russian forces in the area appear to have a different idea.

"Troops from the so-called volunteer Cossack Detachment,  attached to the 155th Marine Brigade of the Russian Pacific Fleet, are refusing to continue to take part in offensive operations due to the failure of the offensive and significant personnel losses near Vuhledar."

This may or may not be accurate. But it’s not hard to understand if those troops decided this has become ridiculous.