Frontline report: Russians outflank Berdychi after heavy losses in frontal assaults

Day 797: April 30

Today, there is a lot of news from the Avdiivka direction, Donetsk Oblast.

Here, Russians have launched a series of costly attacks on the Ukrainian settlement of Berdychi to take it into a pocket.

The main Russian goal to the Northwest of Avdiivka is to break through Ukrainian defensive lines and reach the Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk, which serves as the main Ukrainian headquarters in the region.

The first Ukrainian line of defense in the way of the Russian operation is located along the Durna River. Ever since the fall of Avdiivka, Russians have been continuously attempting to breach these Ukrainian defenses in multiple locations.

The settlement of Berdychi is situated on the outermost edge of the Ukrainian river defenses, which is why it has seen the highest intensity of clashes in this direction. After Russian forces managed to cross the railway, they immediately launched numerous waves of attacks in the direction of Berdychi. The Ukrainian 47th mechanized brigade shared drone footage showcasing the Russian losses on the road between Stepove and Berdychi since the fall of Avdiivka.

The notable Russian losses on this road amounted to 20 armored transport vehicles, eight all-terrain vehicles, two engineering vehicles, and several other weapons systems.

The Ukrainian brigade stated that Russians had lost up to 1300 soldiers only in these attacks in an attempt to reach the settlement, as the footage also shows the fields and the road itself being scattered with Russian manpower losses.

The 47th mechanized brigade also shared footage of them counterattacking one of these Russian assaults with a Bradley infantry fighting vehicle, disabling and destroying the Russian armored vehicle in a duel.

After the incredibly costly Russian attacks, Russians finally managed to reach the settlement of Berdychi itself. Geolocated footage shows Russian forces launching attacks with one or two armored vehicles at a time. Drone operators of the 47th mechanized brigade shared geolocated footage of them destroying a Russian armored transport vehicle that had made it into the settlement with an FPV drone. Another geolocated video shows a Russian assault group attempting to rush into the settlement and take up positions in the destroyed houses. Unfortunately for Russians, as soon as they drove into the town, they were hit by an FPV kamikaze drone. The Russian infantry then attempted to dismount, but they were immediately engaged by Ukrainian small-arms fire and destroyed.

Ukrainian drone operators also shared geolocated footage of them engaging and destroying one Russian T-80 tank near Stepove and another armored transport vehicle in the fields in front of Berdychi itself. Interestingly enough, both these vehicles were equipped with Electronic Warfare systems, which should have countered the Ukrainian drones.

This shows that either Ukrainians have adapted to the Russian use of Anti-Drone systems and have found ways to counter them effectively or that Russian Electronic Warfare systems are less reliable than claimed to be.

After this series of failed frontal assaults on the village itself, Russians decided to attempt to outflank the Ukrainian defense line behind the river. While Russians successfully managed to break through to the Ukrainian settlement of Ocheretyne, Russians immediately launched a series of flanking attacks on Berdychi.

However, Russians are using the Avdiivka chemical plant as a forward operating base, as the many industrial buildings allow Russian assault groups to hide and support their attacks with armored vehicles. In an attempt to attack from this direction, they had to cover a lot of open terrain to even get close to the Ukrainian lines. Consequently, geolocated footage released by the 47th mechanized brigade shows that the first Russian assault group, consisting of three tanks, was quickly spotted by Ukrainian drone operators, who were already directing artillery fire missions on Russian infantry in Stepove.

The drone operators and artillery crews then promptly shifted their attention to the assaulting Russian tanks, destroying them one by one before they even came close to the Ukrainian defenses.

Shortly thereafter, Russians launched three more attacks in the direction of Berdychi. The next Russian attack consisted of a single armored transport vehicle that was similarly spotted early after it departed from the Avdiivka chemical plant.

Ukrainian artillery crews opened fire on the Russian vehicle, which then got scared and decided to turn back around. Ukrainians did not relent and continued to fire on the retreating Russian vehicle, hitting it as the white smoke from its smoke canisters turned black, finishing off the Russian assault group.

The next Russian attack managed to come closer to achieving its objective of outflanking the Ukrainian defenders in Berdychi. The Russian assault group consisted of two armored vehicles and one all-terrain vehicle, which managed to drive past the tree lines north of the settlement. The first armored vehicle, however, was then promptly destroyed by Ukrainian artillery, while the second only got disabled.

The Russian infantry on top of the second vehicle quickly dismounted their disabled transport and tried to run into the tree line for cover. Ukrainians again did not relent and opened fire on the Russian infantry, completely dismantling the Russian attack. The last all-terrain vehicle was then sent forward to support the attack, but as it was unarmored, it stood no chance against the Ukrainian artillery.

Drone operators of the 47th mechanized brigade later released another video of them destroying a Russian all-terrain vehicle with an FPV-kamikaze drone. While Russians failed in their attempts to take Berdychi directly, they managed to further develop their breakthrough into the settlement of Ocheretyne.

At that point, the situation became increasingly dire for the Ukrainian defenders in Berdychi, as they were forced to fight off Russian attacks from nearly all sides. Almost two weeks after the initial unsuccessful Russian attacks on Berdychi, Russians had managed to bypass the Ukrainian settlement and cut off its main supply line altogether.

This forced the Ukrainian 47th mechanized brigade, responsible for the region’s defense, to completely withdraw from the settlement, as staying in their positions would be suicide. In the end, Ukrainians have now fully withdrawn from their defenses in Berdychi.

The 47th mechanized brigade held the line for as long as possible but ultimately was forced to pull back, as Russians had broken through their northern flank. It is important to note that Russians allocated nearly an entire division of motorized infantry and multiple other brigades to the Ocheretyne direction.

And while Berdychi used to be a small village of less than 300 people, Russians had lost nearly 1500 soldiers and dozens of armored vehicles in their attempts to take it.

If Ukrainians continue to inflict such a high rate of losses on the Russian forces, the Russian detachments will quickly lose their combat capability, causing a premature culmination of the offensive effort and consolidation of the front line.

In our daily 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.