Russian Attack Collapses As Ukraine Fire Drives 6 Tanks To Sink In River

Another Russian armored attack collapsed in chaos as fall rains and mud - which the Russians thought would shield their vehicles from drones - led them into a flooded marsh where six of their tanks and IFVs sank.

The result was that that the attack failed as the drones and artillery then finished off the sunken armor as well as the other troops and vehicles following them. JL

Yuri Zoria reports in the Euromaidan Press:

A mechanized Russian assault collapsed near Volodymyrivka in Donetsk Oblast on 25 October 2025 when six armored vehicles sank in the Kazennyi Torets River. Ukrainian units, including the 33rd Mechanized Brigade, repelled the attack with artillery, HIMARS, and drone strikes. The failed crossing was part of a larger Russian mechanized push near Pokrovsk. According to him, the 33rd, 93rd, 95th, and other brigades destroyed at least sixteen infantry fighting vehicles during heavy fog that limited visibility.The sight of Russian equipment stuck in the river recalls the 2022 Donets crossing near Bilohorivka in Luhansk Oblast, where Russian troops lost dozens of tanks and infantry fighting vehicles.

A mechanized Russian assault collapsed near Volodymyrivka in Donetsk Oblast on 25 October 2025 when six armored vehicles sank in the Kazennyi Torets River, Militarnyi reports. Ukrainian units, including the 33rd Separate Mechanized Brigade, repelled the attack with combined artillery, HIMARS, and drone strikes. The sight of Russian equipment stuck in the river recalls the notorious 2022 Donets crossing near Bilohorivka in Luhansk Oblast, where Russian troops lost dozens of tanks and infantry fighting vehicles.

In recent days, Russia has launched several mechanized assaults in eastern Ukraine, likely counting on the rainy, foggy autumn weather to limit Ukraine’s heavy use of drones that devastate armored vehicles. So far, though, every attack has failed, with most of the participating equipment destroyed.

Morning assault drowned in mud and fire. Ukrainians hit retreating Russians

The 33rd Brigade shared the video of the attack and said said five armored vehicles advanced from the Novotoretske side early Saturday but stalled in swampy ground. Three vehicles got stuck so badly that troops had to climb out into the water. Ukrainian artillery immediately targeted concentrations of personnel, while a HIMARS salvo and FPV drones destroyed remaining vehicles.

“The weather conditions, on which the occupiers obviously relied, did not play in their favor,” the brigade wrote.

As the assault unraveled, adjacent Ukrainian formations engaged retreating Russian troops. Drone bombers and FPV operators finished off abandoned equipment. According to the Brigade, three armored units drowned in the river and two more were destroyed together with neighboring forces. Confirmed Russian equipment losses include one MT-LB and a motorcycle. The defenders reported at least four enemy soldiers killed and two wounded.

Larger attack repelled near Pokrovsk

Ukrainian soldier and OSINT researcher Kriegsforscher wrote on X that the failed crossing was part of a larger Russian mechanized push near Pokrovsk. According to him, the 33rd, 93rd, 95th, and other brigades destroyed at least sixteen infantry fighting vehicles during heavy fog that limited visibility.

OSINT analyst Moklasen, reviewing the brigade’s footage, identified at least six pieces of armored equipment stuck in the Kazennyi Torets riverbed.

Echo of Bilohorivka

In May 2022, Russian troops suffered catastrophic losses while trying to cross the Siverskyi Donets River near Bilohorivka in Luhansk Oblast. Over eight days, they lost more than eighty armored vehicles, many of which drowned during the crossing or the chaotic retreat.