Russia's Kupiansk Attacks Collapse As Ukr Drones Annihilate Armor, Convoys

Annihilation is a strong word. It leaves little to the imagination about the state of collapse and suffering inflicted on an enemy. 

But reports reveal it to be an accurate description of the destruction visited upon attacking Russian troops in the Kupiansk sector due to the accuracy and lethality of Ukraine's drone warriors. JL

Euromaidan Press reports:

With poor logistics and relentless Ukrainian drone strikes turning Russian armored columns into burning wrecks, the battle for Kupiansk’s southern flank becomes a brutal test. Russians must drive 15 kilometers to reach the river, along with diminished maneuverability and lack of cover, giving Ukrainian drone operators time to detect Russian vehicles and unleash FPV kamikaze drones. As a result, the Ukrainians destroyed15 Russian armored vehicles in the last 5 days alone. Russian forces were exposed to precision strikes by FPV kamikaze drones of the Achilles Battalion of the 92nd Infantry Brigade. The success of the Battalion in repulsing Russian mechanized attacks allowed them to expand from a battalion to a regiment, increasing their size four times.

Russian forces push forward in their bid to expand control along the Oskil River, relying on mechanized assaults to break through Ukrainian defenses. 

However, with poor logistics and relentless Ukrainian drone strikes turning their armored columns into burning wrecks, the battle for Kupiansk’s southern flank becomes a brutal test of endurance.

The goal of Russian forces in the area is to expand their control along the Oskil River and reach the city of Kupiansk. This is the most important sector of their longstanding effort to eliminate the Ukrainian bridgehead across the Oskil River, consolidating their gains in the Luhansk region on an operational level. 

To achieve this objective, Russian forces have slowly worked their way to the river at the settlement of Kruhliakivka. To further support these efforts, Russians are trying to reinforce their infantry along the river with armored units, hoping to give them the firepower needed to finally achieve a breakthrough. 

 

If we take a look at the topographic map, we can see that the main advantage of the Russian forces is their high-ground positions from which they can support their efforts along the Oskil River. Furthermore, the gully through the settlement of Pischane is surrounded on two sides by these high grounds, allowing them to move their forces through here in relative safety from direct Ukrainian fire. 

A screenshot from the Reporting from Ukraine video, 1 February.

However, Russian movement through the gully is heavily complicated by the absence of hardened roads through the lowlands. With the lowlands also being more prone to flooding and muddy terrain, this path becomes basically unusable during the muddy seasons. This forces Russians to increasingly use the roads on the high ground, risking increased exposure to Ukrainian fire.

Furthermore, Russians operate over 40 kilometers from their supply hub in Svatove, decreasing the effectiveness of their supply lines. Additionally, once they attempt to drive toward their positions along the Oskil River, Russian forces quickly come under an intense Ukrainian crossfire, with FPV drones flying in from both sides along the entire stretch of their spearhead. 

A screenshot from the Reporting from Ukraine video, 1 February.

The fact that Russians must drive 15 kilometers to reach the river, along with their diminished maneuverability and lack of cover, gives Ukrainian drone operators plenty of time to detect Russian vehicles moving toward the river and unleash a swarm of FPV kamikaze drones on them.  

Geolocated footage reveals the detection of Russian BTR-82 armored vehicles moving to dismount stormtroopers at Kruhliakivka. However, unfortunately for the Russians, the drone operators of the Achilles battalion of the Ninety-Second Infantry Brigade quickly detected them and knocked out the vehicles, which forced the infantrymen to try and advance on foot. 

This only exposed them to additional strikes where the drone operators eliminated the Russian soldiers one by one. At the end of the operation, in just several minutes, the Ukrainian drone operators managed to knock out four Russian BTR armored vehicles and seven soldiers, while the remaining survivors were forced to withdraw.

A screenshot from the Reporting from Ukraine video, 1 February.

 

Hereafter, Russians continued sending additional waves of mechanized units, including tanks to reinforce their infantry fighting along the riverbank. This only led to an increase in losses as the Ukrainian drone operators kept destroying any Russian armored equipment attempting to reach the fighting along the river. As a result of these operations, the Ukrainians destroyed over 15 Russian armored vehicles in the last 5 days alone, with many more destroyed in previous weeks. The goal of Russian forces in the area is to expand their control along the Oskil River and reach the city of Kupiansk. This is the most important sector of their long-standing effort to eliminate the Ukrainian bridgehead across the Oskil River, consolidating their gains in Luhansk Oblast on an operational level. To achieve this objective, Russian forces have slowly worked their way to the river at the village of Kruhlyakivka. To further support these efforts, Russians are trying to reinforce their infantry along the river with armored units, hoping to give them the firepower needed to finally achieve a breakthrough.

Russians face poor logistics and wet ground

If we take a look at the topographic map, we can see that the main advantage of the Russian forces is their high-ground positions from which they can support their efforts along the Oskil River. Furthermore, the gully through the village of Pischane is surrounded on two sides by these high grounds, allowing them to move their forces through here in relative safety from direct Ukrainian fire. However, Russian movement through the gully is heavily complicated by the absence of hardened roads through the lowlands, with the lowlands also being more prone to flooding and muddy terrain. This path becomes basically unusable during the muddy seasons.

The topographic map of the Oskil River. Photo: Screenshot from the video

This forces Russians to increasingly use the roads on the high ground, risking increased exposure to Ukrainian fire. Furthermore, Russians operate over 40 km from their supply hub in Svatove, decreasing the effectiveness of their supply lines. Additionally, once they attempt to drive toward their positions along the Oskil River, Russian forces quickly come under an intense Ukrainian crossfire. FPV drones fly in from both sides along the entire stretch of their spearhead.

The fact that Russians must drive 15 km to reach the river, along with their diminished maneuverability and lack of cover, gives Ukrainian drone operators plenty of time to detect Russian vehicles moving toward the river and unleash a swarm of FPV kamikaze drones on them. Geolocated footage reveals the detection of Russian BTR-82 armored vehicles moving to dismount stormtroopers at Kruhlyakivka.

Russian 40-km supply line from Kharkiv to Luhansk Oblast. Photo: Screenshot from the video

The Achilles Battalion’s devastating drone counter-offensive

 

Unfortunately for the Russians, the drone operators of the Achilles Battalion of the 92nd Infantry Brigade quickly detected them. They knocked out the vehicles, forcing the infantrymen to try to advance on foot. This only exposed them to additional strikes, in which the drone operators eliminated the Russian soldiers one by one.

Russian BTR armored vehicle destroyed in Kharkiv Oblast. Photo: Screenshot from the video

At the end of the operation, in just several minutes, the Ukrainian drone operators managed to knock out four Russian BTR armored vehicles and seven soldiers, while the remaining survivors were forced to withdraw. Hereafter, Russians continued sending additional waves of mechanized units, including tanks, to reinforce their infantry fighting along the riverbank. This only led to an increase in losses as the Ukrainian drone operators kept destroying any Russian armored equipment attempting to reach the fighting along the river. As a result of these operations, the Ukrainians destroyed over 15 Russian armored vehicles in the last 5 days alone, with many more destroyed in previous weeks.

Russian troops in Kharkiv Oblast. Photo: Screenshot from the video

Overall, due to the poor logistics and lack of infrastructure in the southern flank of Kupiansk, the Russian forces were exposed to precision strikes by FPV kamikaze drones of the Ukrainian Achilles Battalion of the 92nd Infantry Brigade. The success of the Achilles Battalion in repulsing several Russian mechanized attacks on the southern flank of Kupiansk over the past months allowed them to expand from a battalion to a regiment, increasing the size of their unit by nearly four times. The huge influx of new Ukrainian drone operators will allow them to counter the Russian attacks to even greater effect, further deteriorating the Russian situation here and possibly even setting conditions for Ukrainians to retake the East Bank of the Oskil River.