Frontline report: Russians lost 60+ armored units in single attack near Kupiansk

01 October 2024. Today there are a lot of updates from the Kupiansk direction.

Here, Russian forces launched their largest mechanized assault in months, hoping to break through Ukrainian defenses in order to reach the Oskil River and the city of Kupiansk to storm it after that.

Ukrainian troops responsible for holding the frontline in this area were put under pressure by two massive columns with over 60 tanks and armored vehicles but were ready to deal another deadly blow to the enemy.

Russian forces have created a small tactical salient around Pishchane in recent weeks and have focused on advancing as quickly as possible. They moved along a ravine running east of Pishchane and in the fields south and north of the settlement but have struggled so far to advance in the fields immediately east of Kolisnykivka and Kruhlyakivka. The command of the Russian Western Grouping of Forces has decided to organize a large, mechanized assault to advance rapidly through these open territories and consolidate positions within Kolisnykivka and Kruhlyakivka, enabling Russian infantry to establish a more enduring foothold within the two settlements on the Oskil River.

Soon Ukrainian drone operators conducting reconnaissance in the area reported a large gathering of enemy forces in the vicinity of Pishchane, a roughly battalion-sized Russian mechanized assault group consisting of more than 60 tanks and armored vehicles, making it the largest such assault in the Kupiansk-Svatove-Kreminna line since last winter.

This group split into two columns – one with around 40 armored vehicles moving in the direction of Kolisnykivka and one with around 20 heading towards Kruhlyakivka.

The first column was intercepted by drone operators of the Ukrainian 77th Airmobile Brigade and soon they posted geolocated footage showing more than a dozen damaged and destroyed Russian armored vehicles crowded close to one another, suggesting that they attacked in a tight column and became jammed once the leading vehicles were successfully hit by FPV drones.

This common occurrence in failed Russian mechanized assaults not only blocks the movement forward but spreads panic among the Russian crews which leads to chaos on the battlefield, making survival of equipment and personnel even harder. The released footage continues with Russian vehicles attempting to turn back and run away from the battlefield but to no avail as Ukrainian drone operators continued their hunt trying to not let anyone get away. The brigade command reported that during this operation they have destroyed 3 tanks and 11 other armored vehicles and have damaged 10 tanks and 16 armored vehicles which means that the deadly Ukrainian response has not left a single Russian piece of equipment from the 40 attacking without harm. The full uncensored footage of this disastrous Russian attack can be found on Reporting From Ukraine’s Telegram channel.

The second Russian column consisting of 20 armored vehicles aimed at reaching Kruhlyakivka but was also spotted early enough so the operators of the Achilles drone strike battalion from the Ukrainian 92nd Assault brigade launched a swarm of kamikaze drones to stop the enemy before even crossing the fields.

The extensive footage shows not only the expert work of the Ukrainian troops but also the wide range of vehicles the Russians used for this operation: from a turtle tank and regular tanks to different infantry fighting vehicles, various supply vehicles, and even ATVs. Russians were trying to prevent their vehicles from getting destroyed by using mobile electronic warfare systems and smoke screens but unfortunately for them that was not enough to stop the dozens of Ukrainian drones dominating the sky. Surviving crew members of the Russian assault group were also immediately targeted with grenades dropped by drones and soon the Ukrainian commanders reported that they had reached almost 100% destruction ratio again with all enemy vehicles being damaged or destroyed during the operation. The shocking footage of this operation can be found on our Telegram channel as well.

Overall, Ukrainians understand very well the importance of keeping the Russians at least 10 kilometers away from Kupiansk and that’s why they have deployed here some of their best brigades with soldiers staying on high alert day and night, anticipating every Russian move.

These defensive precautions helped them repel back the biggest mechanized assault so far this year in the  direction of Kupiansk. Russian forces lost more than 60 armored vehicles in a single  attack and are now back at their starting positions near Pishchane.

This prompted  criticism from Russian military analysts that this army group has consistently failed all  offensive operations in this region and with not been able to advance now before the anticipated  change in the weather, they will most likely be   pressured to take a long operational break.

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.