Russia's Biggest Fall Pokrovsk Attack Fails: 6 Hours, 2 Waves, 29 Vehicles, 0 Gains

For most of this past spring and summer, Russian attacks were characterized by small, unsupported infantry units attempting to infiltrate Ukrainian lines. The theory was that such assaults would be harder for drones to stop than armor. In practice, they were just as easy to neutralize.

So starting about two weeks ago, all the armor the Russians had been saving were unleashed on the Pokrovsk front. And the result has been a boon for scrap metal dealers: the Kremlin's forces have failed to make any gains while helping the Russians reduce inventory. Yesterday, the latest and largest attack of the fall - 29 armored vehicles - was systematically eliminated by Ukrainian forces despite the Russians' attempt to use wet, foggy weather as cover. Of the 29 vehicles attacking, over half were destroyed and surviving troops were picked off as they tried to return to their own lines. Another banner day in the annals of Russia's military futility against Ukraine. JL

David Axe reports in Trench Art, Yuri Zoria reports in Euromaidan Press:

Ukrainian forces stopped Russia’s largest autumn mechanized assault so far on 27 October, wrecking tanks and armored vehicles and striking fleeing infantry with drones near Dobropillia. The failed Russian push involved 29 armored vehicles and lasted over six hours. It got wrecked by Ukrainian mines, drones and artillery. This latest attack was the biggest and most costly for the five Russian marine brigades and regiments that carry out many of the mech assaults around Pokrovsk. Russian planners relied on fog and wet conditions to hamper drone visibility and limit aerial detection. The defenders countered with pre-prepared engineering positions, minefields, and coordinated action. Russian forces lost 15 vehicles: 2 tanks, 12 armored fighting vehicles, and 1 utility vehicle.

The Russian military spent much of 2025 stockpiling tanks and other armored vehicles for a planned mechanized assault on the fortress city of Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine.

In mid-October, these armored fighting vehicles—tanks, infantry fighting vehicles and armored personnel carriers—finally attacked. And promptly got wrecked by Ukrainian mines, drones and artillery. 

 

Hoping to exploit poor drone weather, Russian forces launched a two-wave assault near Donetsk Oblast’s Dobropillia—and ran straight into mines, bombs, and ambushes.

Russian forces lost 15 vehicles: 2 tanks, 12 armored fighting vehicles, and 1 light utility vehicle.

 

The latest attack, on Monday, was the biggest and potentially the most costly for the five Russian marine brigades and regiments that carry out many of the mech assaults around Pokrovsk. 

Ukrainian forces stopped Russia’s largest autumn mechanized assault so far on 27 October, wrecking tanks and armored vehicles and striking fleeing infantry with drones near Dobropillia, Donetsk Oblast. The 1st National Guard Corps "Azov," and the Army's 33rd and 93rd separate mechanized brigades shared videos of the attack and reported the details of the failed Russian push, which involved 29 armored vehicles and lasted over six hours. Russian vehicles operated in small groups from different directions, possibly trying to adapt their infantry small-groups infiltration tactic for mechanized assaults.

 

Russian troops tried to complicate Ukraine’s defensive response by advancing in small scattered groups of 4–5 vehicles, each using different routes and timings. Ukrainian forces said Russian planners relied on fog and wet conditions to hamper drone visibility and limit aerial detection.

The defenders countered with pre-prepared engineering positions, minefields, and coordinated action across military branches. Artillery units of the Armed Forces and the National Guard, along with drone system crews, played key roles in stopping the attack. 

“A feature of the attack was the increase in the number of tanks,” the 1st Azov Corps added. These were presumably up-armored, gas turbine T-80BVMs, the favorite tanks of the Russian marine corps. The tank factory in Omsk, Siberia, has been producing “new” T-80BVMs by upgrading a rapidly diminishing reserve of old T-80 hulls from the 1980s or earlier.