Ukraine Takes Russian Base North of Pokrovsk As They Destroy Armor Attacks

Ukrainian forces at Pokrovsk are not only destroying Russia's latest armored attack attempts but have retaken a Russian base to the northeast of the city, suggesting that the Kremlin's efforts are even weaker than previously thought. JL

David Axe reports in Trench Art:

In a surprise move, Ukrainian paratroopers have liberated the village of Kucheriv Yar northeast of Pokrovsk. Russian forces have begun attacking with tanks and other armored vehicles again after a long break from mechanized assaults. And while most of the mech assaults target the fortress city of Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk Oblast, Russian vehicles are also on the move in Zaporizhzhia Oblast in southern Ukraine. The outcome for the Russians has been the same in the east and the south. Destroyed and damaged vehicles. Dead crew and passengers. 

• Ukrainian forces raised their flag in Kucheriv Yar in eastern Ukraine

• Kucheriv Yar was, until recently, a base for Russian troops fighting northeast of Pokrovsk

• Pokrovsk is critical to Ukraine’s defense of the last free cities in Donetsk Oblast

• The Russians fighting around Kucheriv Yar were in a position to threaten a key supply line into Pokrovsk

• It’s unclear how durable the Ukrainian victory in Kucheriv Yar may be

In a surprise move, Ukrainian paratroopers have liberated—at least temporarily—the village of Kucheriv Yar at the top of the 25-square-mile salient jutting into Ukrainian lines northeast of the fortress city of Pokrovsk.

A video the Ukrainian general staff posted on-line on Wednesday depicts troopers from the 132nd Reconnaissance Battalion raising a Ukrainian flag in the ruins of the village. It’s unclear how many, if any, Ukrainian troops stayed in Kucheriv Yar after hoisting the flag.

The win might not last. Still, the op in Kucheriv Yar is “better than nothing” for the Ukrainians, analyst Vitaly observed. Russian forces have begun attacking with tanks and other armored vehicles again after a long break from mechanized assaults. And while most of the mech assaults target the fortress city of Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk Oblast, Russian vehicles are also on the move in Zaporizhzhia Oblast in southern Ukraine.

"Looks like the tempo is a mechanized attack every few days," analyst Jompy wrote.

The outcome for the Russians has been the same in the east and the south. Destroyed and damaged vehicles. Dead crew and passengers. But that doesn't mean the Russians aren't advancing. While vehicles burn, some Russian infantry are still slipping past Ukrainian defenses—on foot.

A little past noon on Monday, the Russian army's 71st Mechanized Brigade mustered a powerful force for an attack on positions defended by the Ukrainian army's 118th Mechanized Brigade in Mala Tokmachka, a key Ukrainian stronghold in Zaporizhzhia.

The Russians mobilized two companies with 26 vehicles, according to the Ukrainian 17th Army Corps, which oversees the 118th Mechanized Brigade. The vehicles included tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, armored personnel carriers and Tiger armored trucks.

"They attacked in waves," the 17th Army Corps reported. "And … were defeated."

The corps claimed it knocked out two tanks, 12 IFVs, six APCs and two Tigers with drones, artillery and tanks that "worked in harmony."

"Not a single position was lost," the 17th Army Corps added. "The situation is under control."

The corps apparently has a drone advantage over the southern front. "On the Zaporizhzhia direction, Russian units on secondary sectors of the front experience a shortage of UAVs and are forced to steal drones and components, including blades and engines, from other units," the Ukrainian Center for Defense Strategies noted.

A map of the situation near Pokrovsk

The Kremlin is clearly much more focused on Pokrovsk than it is on Mala Tokmachka. Indeed, Russian advances just south of Pokrovsk, led by the elite 90th Tank Division—the biggest division in the Russians army—may open an east-west path toward Zaporizhzhia city for Russian forces sooner than any attack from the south can do.

 

Russian mechanized assaults aren't necessarily the Ukrainians' biggest problem, however. Many of the biggest Russian tank columns are traveling along the same road toward the village of Shakhove, which anchors Ukrainian defenses northeast of Pokrovsk.

Relentlessly surveilling and mining that one road, the Ukrainian 1st Azov Corps has been able to defeat every Russian mech assault since the Kremlin ordered tanks and other heavy vehicles back into action in large numbers several weeks ago.