Russia Loses Entire Armored Battalion In Failed Pokrovsk River Crossing

The Russians have lost more than a battalion of armored vehicles in vain attacks north of Pokrovsk, an area that has become yet another Kremlin graveyard.

Russian armor attempting to push forward have been annihlated by Ukrainian drones. JL

David Axe reports in Trench Art:

Twice in five days, Russian forces tried to cross the Kazenyi Tonets river with a large number of armored vehicles. The first attempt, on Dec. 22, ended in disaster—and cost the Russians an entire battalion of new BTR wheeled fighting vehicles and T-80 turtle and container tanks (The 40th Naval Infantry Brigade has begun welding shipping containers atop T-80 tanks as an anti-drone expedient). The second attempt ended in disaster on the riverbank. The Russians never even managed to get across … and lost two companies of armor while trying. After the attack, analysts counted at least nine wrecked BTR-80/82s as well as nine destroyed tanks, three knocked-out MT-LB armored tractors and two unidentified wrecked vehicles.

To push mechanized forces toward the new front line north of the ruins of Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk Oblast, the Russian Center Group of Forces—in particular, its marine brigades and regiments—must cross the Kazenyi Torets River, which flows south to north toward northern Ukraine. The river isn’t very wide or very deep. In places, it’s possible for infantry to wade across. But the Russians are struggling to get their tanks and fighting vehicles over the Kazenyi Torets under a sky swarming with Ukrainian drones. The river is the Russians’ “worst nightmare,” analyst Moklasen mused. Twice in five days, Russian forces tried to cross the river with a large number of armored vehicles. The first attempt, on Dec. 22, ended in disaster—and cost the Russians a battalion of hardware. But not at the river. The second attempt ended in disaster on the riverbank. The Russians never even managed to get across … and lost two companies of armor while trying. In effect, the Russian marine corps handed Ukrainian forces north of the ruins of Pokrovsk an early Christmas present: an entire battalion of new BTR wheeled fighting vehicles and T-80 turtle and container tanks. Units subordinate to the Ukrainian 1st Azov Corps, including the 4th National Guard Brigade, the 1st Assault Regiment and the Lazar drone group—the latter founded by a T.V. producer—spotted the four separate Russian columns from miles away despite the winter fog on Dec. 22. More and more Ukrainian first-person-view and bomber drones have thermal cameras, which can detect a person or vehicle’s heat signature through the haze. Lazar reported 24 attacking vehicles, but it’s evident from the post-battle imagery that many more were involved, including at least two container tanks from the Russian 40th Naval Infantry Brigade. The 40th NIB has begun welding shipping containers atop T-80 tanks as an anti-drone expedient. Surveying the battlefield in the days after the attack, analyst Moklasen counted at least nine wrecked BTR-80/82s as well as nine destroyed tanks, three knocked-out MT-LB armored tractors and two unidentified wrecked vehicles.