Frontline report: outnumbered Ukrainian elite brigade repels Russian assault through superior tactics

Today there are a lot of updates from the Svatove direction, Luhansk Oblast.

Here, amid mounting pressure from powerful Russian assaults threatening a breakthrough from their strategic bridgehead on the Zherebyets River, Ukrainian command responded with a bold move. 

The elite Third Assault Brigade was deployed, setting the stage for a crucial counterattack to stabilize the defense line against a larger force.

The Russian objective in this part of the front is to gain full control over the remaining areas of the Luhansk region and use the bridgeheads near Makiivka to launch assaults on the northern Donetsk region. The heavy concentration of Russian forces, combined with months of continuous attacks, has greatly strained the Ukrainian defense efforts.

The Ukrainian command initiated a series of counterattacks using the Third Assault Brigade north of Makiivka, aiming to sever one of the key Russian supply routes to the town. 

This strategy forced the Russians to shift their focus from consolidating their bridgehead at Makiivka, giving Ukrainian forces the opportunity to fortify their defenses before the Russians resume their assaults.

The Third Assault Brigade is one of the most elite units of the Ukrainian army. The organization of this brigade was strategically designed to create a highly mobile, well-equipped, and extensively trained force capable of engaging in offensive and active defensive operations alike.

The Ukrainians began their operation by deploying thermite flamethrower drones to burn down tree lines surrounding Russian dugouts and trenches. By eliminating this cover, they significantly improved visibility for operators of standard FPV drones, making it easier to detect larger groups of Russian troops. 

As the tree lines were set ablaze, Ukrainian drone operators were able to target and eliminate more Russian soldiers. Even when drones missed their mark and hit nearby trees or branches, the resulting shrapnel still wounded or killed nearby Russian forces.

The deployed drones also relayed information about Russian positions to artillery and mortar operators of Ukrainian artillery groups. The artillery groups of the Third Assault Brigade are equipped with modern British AS-Ninety self-propelled artillery whose artillery shots were accurate to the point that Russian troops got destroyed even while moving.

After heavy artillery and drone strikes weakened Russian positions and destroyed a significant portion of their defenses, the fighters of the Third Assault Brigade launched ground assaults.

T-Sixty-Four-BV tanks advanced toward Russian positions to target areas that hadn’t been fully neutralized by artillery and drones. Once their objectives were achieved, the tanks deployed smoke grenades to cover their retreat and withdrew from the battlefield.

With most of the Russian defenses destroyed, Ukrainian stormtroopers were deployed in M113 armored personnel carriers. Upon dismounting, they launched a coordinated sweep of the Russian positions. Many Russian soldiers, already disoriented from the earlier shelling and drone strikes, had taken cover in their dugouts. 

However,unfortunately for the Russians, the Ukrainian stormtroopers quickly engaged and eliminated those that remained. In the end, only one Russian soldier surrendered, providing critical intelligence on nearby Russian units. He was the sole survivor of the assault, as all others were killed in action.

Interestingly, despite being outnumbered two to one, the Ukrainians secured new positions through the well-coordinated efforts of their units.

 These assaults north of Makiivka forced the Russians to divert their forces to the northern flank in an attempt to stabilize the situation. Although the Russians have launched counterattacks to reclaim the lost positions, the Third Assault Brigade continues to hold the line by utilizing continuous active defense approach.

Overall, the Ukrainians managed to delay the Russian months-long infantry-intensive assaults on Makiivka and bought the Ukrainian forces near the town enough time to fortify the west bank of the river before the Russians engaged. Ukrainian stormtroopers managed to shift focus of the Russians which forced them to redirect a portion of their forces to counterattack lost positions to no avail.

Such continuation of Ukrainian operations can enable them to uppercut the Russian Makiivka bridgehead from the north by assaulting Novovodyane and forcing Russia to withdraw from Makiivka as Ukrainians are now in a better position to exert fire control over the lowlands along the river.

In our regular frontline report, we pair up with the military blogger Reporting from Ukraine to keep you informed about what is happening on the battlefield in the Russo-Ukrainian war.