Ukraine Kill Zones Are "Crushing" Russian Pokrovsk, Kharkiv, Belgorod Attempts

Russia is launching new attacks across the front that some are calling a summer-fall offensive, but that many consider continuations of failed winter-spring offensives that were, themselves, continuations of last fall's equally disappointing attempts. Most are being decimated by drones and artillery before they even get to their jumping off points on the front line. 

But the rest are being funneled into Ukrainian kill zones where the Kremlin's remaining armor and the ragtag collection of civilian autos and motorbikes are duly dispatched with the usual heavy casualties. Of particular note are the challenges faced by Russia's motorbike troops. Those who avoid being 'unhorsed' by drones or mines then find themselves faced with anti-tank trenches. But rather than leaving their bikes and continuing on foot, many attempt to jump the trenches - probably having watched too many Evil Knievel videos - only to find that taking off is easy, landing, not so much. JL

RFU and Euromaidan Press report:

As Russian forces attempt to break out at Pokrovsk, Kharkiv and Belgorod they are met by Ukraine's layered defenses including drone brigades coordinating with artillery. “The enemy, using armored vehicles [and] motorcycles or ATVs, staged another meat assault this week." The 92nd Assault Brigade laid waste to the gathering Russian forces. The 58th Motorized Brigade intercepted an assault in Belgorod around the same time. Ukrainian anti-tank ditches and razor wire have created chokepoints easy to monitor for movement of Russian soldiers. (And) motorbike troops try feats of aerobatics difficult in peacetime that are impossible on the battlefield - jumping simple anti-tank ditches - that almost always get them killed.

The southern fields of Pokrovsk have become the stage for one of the most critical battles in the region, now defended by Ukraine’s elite SKALA battalion. As Russian forces attempt to break out of the fields, they are met by Ukraine’s layered defenses, where veteran drone brigades coordinate with artillery to repel the assaults with precision. The Ukrainian army’s elite 92nd Assault Brigade thwarted a potentially powerful Russian assault along Ukraine’s northern border with Russia last week—and knocked out an entire company of increasingly rare armored vehicles in the process.

The successful defense by one of the Ukrainian army’s best brigades comes amid discontent in another elite Ukrainian brigade holding the line along the same stretch of the 1,100-kilometer front line. Ukrainian forces excel on the defense, but some critics insist the Ukrainians shouldn’t be attacking while they’re struggling to fully staff their infantry battalions.

Elite brigades decimate Russian forces with mines and drones

On or just before Thursday, the 92nd Assault Brigade’s drones detected a large Russian force on the move outside the village of Zhuravlyovka, in Russia’s Belgorod Oblast, just opposite the border with Ukraine’s Kharkiv Oblast.

Map of Zhuravlyovka and ground control near Belgorod and Kursk oblasts, by Euromaidan Press

“The enemy, using armored vehicles [and] a significant number of personnel on motorcycles and [all-terrain vehicles], decided to stage another meat assault,” the brigade, which began the war as a vehicle-heavy mechanized brigade but reorganized to emphasize its infantry firepower, reported on social media.

The 92nd Assault Brigade laid waste to the gathering Russian forces. “The equipment and personnel were blown up by mines, hit by artillery, and hotly burned by drones of various types,” the brigade claimed.

 

Analysts counted around 10 knocked-out BMP fighting vehicles and tanks, which is a lot of BMPs and tanks at this late stage of the wider war.

After losing more than 17,000 armored vehicles and other heavy equipment in Ukraine—far more than it can immediately replace—the Kremlin is equipping more and more regiments with civilian vehicles or sending them into battle on foot.

The assault that the 92nd Assault Brigade broke up on Thursday may be the same assault that the adjacent 58th Motorized Brigade also intercepted in Belgorod around the same time.

The 58th Motorized Brigade reported heavy Russian losses: a tank, eight infantry fighting vehicles, two motorcycles, two ATVs, and a car were destroyed; an infantry fighting vehicle and four ATVs were damaged. Not only are bike troops totally exposed to Ukrainian drones, artillery and mines—they may also be tempted to try feats of motorcycle aerobatics that would be difficult in peacetime, and are nearly impossible on the battlefield.

As a Ukrainian drone observed on or just before Thursday, a Russian bike soldier raced, in broad daylight, across the no-man’s-land somewhere along the 700-mile front line of Russia’s 39-month wider war on Ukraine. His luck held, at first. No mines or shells exploded. No first-person-view drones swooped down.

But then he neared the simplest possible defense: a hole in the ground. Specifically, a long anti-tank ditch seemingly around 20 feet across and 20 feet deep.

“Leaving a pile of burned scrap metal in the fields, the invaders rolled back to lick their wounds,” the 58th Motorized Brigade crowed. “Of course, except for those who became victims of the adventurism of their own command.”

The goal of the Russian forces in this area is to reach the border of the Dnipro region. This would serve as an information victory, compensating for a lack of progress. Militarily, this would allow Russians to stabilize their western pincer and stretch Ukrainian lines further, securing their logistics network in the process. 

The main Russian advantage in this area is Ukraine’s manpower shortage. This limits Ukraine’s ability to fully contest the settlements and tree lines where Russians can press their numerical superiority. 

However, once Russian troops leave these covered areas and attempt to push into the open fields, their advances falter under intense Ukrainian artillery and drone fire. 

The Russian attacks are further compromised by a lack of trench networks in the open fields, as the Ukrainians did not build a lot of them in the first place. With Ukrainians not planning to hold every tree line due to their manpower shortage, Russian assault groups trying to gain ground are struggling to find large Ukrainian trenches and dugouts to shelter in. This keeps Russian soldiers out of cover for extended periods of time, making any attack a risky endeavor. 

Despite a lack of sufficient manpower to cover every tree line, the Ukrainians have an abundance of drones to detect the Russian assault groups. The Czech artillery initiative provides Ukrainians with millions of artillery shells, which allow them to conduct large artillery barrages on detected Russian positions and movements.

On top of that, the Ukrainian anti-tank ditches and razor wire fortifications have created chokepoints that are easy to monitor for movement of Russian soldiers.

The recent redeployment of the elite Skala Assault Regiment reinforces Ukrainian defenses in the area. While Skala’s assault battalions are being rotated out to rest and recuperate after intense combat in the Pokrovsk sector, their experienced drone and artillery detachments remain active.

These units remain active, detecting, disrupting, and decimating Russian assaults, allowing Ukraine to hold ground with fewer troops, while preserving its main assault forces and wreaking havoc on Russian forces.

Geolocated combat footage from the area reveals a pair of Russian soldiers trying to cover themselves in a sparse tree line and play dead to avoid being struck by the Ukrainian drones. However, the Ukrainians detected everything that moved, and as a result, both Russian soldiers were eliminated. 

The Ukrainians are therefore forcing every surviving Russian soldier to be on a constant run in hopes of finding a trench or dugout to save their lives, as stopping would lead to their immediate elimination.

To avoid being struck, Russian soldiers are using motorcycles to reach the Ukrainian positions, since they are more difficult for drones to track and strike. However, the Russian motorcycle assault units had their way blocked by anti-tank ditches prepared by the Ukrainians. This gives ample time for the Ukrainian drone operators to carefully target and eliminate the Russian forces that are being funneled into a kill-zone.

Notably, one Russian motorcyclist attempted to jump over an anti-tank ditch with his motorbike, however, he misjudged the width of the ditch, and fell short, immediately being hit by a drone-dropped grenade. 

This careful utilization of open terrain, observation of predictable attack routes, and field fortifications allows the Ukrainians to compensate for their manpower shortage.

Overall, the Ukrainians maintain an effective defense to the south of Pokrovsk, fending off against numerically superior Russian units and forcing them into brutal grinding assaults with no cover to shield them. With the SKALA regiment’s veteran drone and artillery units reinforcing the defense, Russian soldiers seem to stand no chance at all. The intensification of Russian attacks across the whole of the Pokrovsk direction is most prominent here, as they desperately need to widen their western pincer to continue their effort to take Pokrovsk into a pocket, as they seek to avoid a repeat of the grueling and costly urban battle raging in Toretsk.