Russian Tank Army Massed At Pokrovsk Being Decimated By Ukrainian Drone Strikes

After pulling most of its dwindling tank reserves off the battlefield late last year, Russia has now pushed them forward again for what is allegedly for yet another 'final' on Pokrovsk. 

But rather than sending them in a massed assault, the Russians have them tiptoeing forward one or two at a time where, to no one's surprise, they are being decimated by the experienced tank killers of Ukraine's drone corps. This appears to be more Russian command timidity attempting to balance attack success versus Kremlin blame for losing tanks. JL

David Axe reports in Trench Art:

The Russian tank army massed in Donetsk Oblast has begun attacking. But it’s sending its tanks and other armor into action one or two at a time - easy prey for Ukraine’s drones, mines and artillery. The Ukrainian brigades around Pokrovsk are skilled tank-killers. Ukrainian forces have destroyed, damaged or captured 4,100 Russian tanks since the war began, more tanks than Russia had in service before the war. They took out those tanks with mines, artillery, anti-tank missiles, FPV and grenade-dropping bomber drones. If the Russians can’t break through the reinforced Ukrainian defenses around Pokrovsk in the coming months, they might not get another chance anytime soon

The Russian tank army that has massed in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk Oblast has begun attacking. But it’s sending its tanks and other armored vehicles into action one or two at a time in the direction of the village of Dobropillya, which sits astride one of two main supply lines into the fortress city of Pokrovsk, a few miles to the south.

Operating singly or in pairs, the armored fighting vehicles are easy prey for Ukraine’s drones, mines and artillery. “One to two AFVs on daily basis at the Dobropillya direction,” Ukrainian drone operator Kriegsforscher wrote. “They don’t live long, but we have a fact.” 

 

The 156th Mechanized Brigade is one of the growing number of Ukrainian units rushing south to Donetsk Oblast to meet a mass of Russian troops and tanks poised to strike at the fortress city of Pokrovsk for what Ukrainian drone operator Kriegsforscher described as a “last, final battle.”

As recently as last month, the 156th Mechanized Brigade was helping to hold the line in Sumy alongside other brigades in the new 18th Army Corps. But with the defeat of its infantry-led incursion northeast of Pokrovsk in recent weeks, the Kremlin made a portentous decision.

Rather than give up on Pokrovsk, it doubled down—and surged reinforcements around the city for what’s shaping up to be a powerful, tank-led offensive.

Pokrovsk’s fall would open the path to Ukraine’s last major defensive positions in Donetsk, potentially forcing a strategic withdrawal that could reshape the entire eastern front.

The reinforcements had to come from somewhere. No fewer than five Russian marine and airborne brigades and regiments plus a tank regiment, an infantry regiment, and two motor rifle brigades have redeployed—or are in the process of redeploying—from Sumy to the sector around Pokrovsk.

These fresh forces, plus a motor rifle division redeploying from Kherson Oblast in the south, amount to the equivalent of an entire field army. They join the eight or so Russian field armies already laying siege to Pokrovsk and nearby towns.

There may be 150,000 Russian troops massing around Pokrovsk. And they’re bringing in large numbers of tanks and other armored vehicles for the first time in many months.

Throughout 2025, Russian regiments have mostly attacked on foot or on motorcycle. Now it’s clear why. “Slowly but surely, it’s being proven that Russia was indeed holding back armor in the rear and reducing mechanized attacks to the bare minimum,” analyst Jompy noted.

Russian commanders were saving their armored vehicles for something. That something, it seems, is the biggest—and potentially last for a while—mechanized assault on Pokrovsk, the last major strongpoint between the Russians and main Ukrainian “fortress belt” threading through Kramatorsk and Sloviansk in western Donetsk.

 

Russia’s largest armored assault in months

The coming clash “will be bigger, bloodier” than the infantry battles that were common around Pokrovsk earlier this year, Finnish analyst Joni Askola warned. It will fall on newly arriving units such as the 156th Mechanized Brigade to hold off a much larger Russian force.

The 156th Mechanized Brigade hit the road to Donetsk last month, according to Unit Observer. It joins the national guard’s 1st Azov Corps and adjacent units that rushed toward Pokrovsk in early August to block, and then roll back, that Russian infantry incursion that briefly threatened one of the two remaining main supply lines into Pokrovsk.

Other Ukrainian units currently in Sumy could follow the 156th Mechanized Brigade to Donetsk as more Russian troops quit Sumy and head south for the coming push on Pokrovsk. The next round of Ukrainian reinforcements could include the 80th and 95th Air Assault Brigades.

Compared to those elite air assault formations, the 156th Mechanized Brigade is a workmanlike unit. It rides in T-64BV tanks, BMP-1TS with new 30-millimeter autocannon turrets, M-113 tracked armored personnel carriers, upgraded BTR-60D wheeled APCs, Kozak armored trucks and M-109 howitzers. Many of these vehicles sport add-on anti-drone armor.

Ukraine’s tank-killing strategy faces its biggest test

Expect the 156th Mechanized Brigade to dig in and prepare for tank attacks. The older Ukrainian brigades around Pokrovsk are skilled tank-killers, but the 156th Mechanized Brigade’s relatively green troopers should be able to pick up the standard tactics fairly quickly.

In the 43 months since Russia widened its war on Ukraine, Ukrainian forces have destroyed, damaged or captured around 4,100 Russian tanks. That’s more tanks than Russian regiments had in front-line service before the wider war.

They took out those tanks with mines, artillery, anti-tank missiles and—perhaps most importantly—explosive first-person-view drones and grenade-dropping bomber drones. The Russians are betting that tank-led assaults can help them win the battle for Pokrovsk. The Ukrainians are betting they can blow up the tanks in the usual way.

Russia’s tank reserves running dangerously low

If the Russians can’t break through the reinforced Ukrainian defenses around Pokrovsk in the coming months, they might not get another chance anytime soon—at least not with tanks.

Russia’s Uralvagonzavod tank factory is building new T-90Ms—but it’s unclear how many. The factory’s output may have collapsed this year. Meanwhile, the Kremlin’s vehicle storage bases, once brimming with Cold War leftovers, are now mostly empty of usable vehicles.

That fact is that, after nine months of mostly infantry and motorcycle assaults, the Russians are shifting back to mechanized assaults in the Pokrovsk sector, arguably the locus of the fighting as Russia’s wider war on Ukraine grinds into its 43rd month.