Frontline report: Toretsk becomes kill zone as Ukraine launches counterattacks in high-rises
The ongoing battles in Toretsk has highlighted the growing importance of FPV (First Person View) drones in urban combat. Ukrainian operators are using these agile devices to strike Russian soldiers with unprecedented precision, even as they attempt to seek cover inside buildings.
Today there are a lot of updates from the Toretsk direction, Donetsk Oblast.
Here, the Ukrainians launched a series of powerful counterattacks to prevent Russians from accumulating forces in the high-rise district of the city, setting the stage to cancel Russian assaults in the central part of Toretsk.
As the main Russian offensive effort to cut the Ukrainian defense of the city in half was halted, the Ukrainians took the opportunity to convert the central part of the city into a kill zone.
After securing the southern part of the high-rise building district, Russian stormtroopers were assigned to capture the northern section of this residential area. Gaining control of all the high-rise buildings in Toretsk would enable the Russians to establish fire control over the entire town. This would set the stage for an offensive along the city’s Central Street, effectively splitting the Ukrainian defense into two isolated pockets.
However, the Ukrainians, aware of this plan, are continuously launching raids and counterattacks on Russian positions in the high-rise buildings to prevent their forces from massing for an assault.
Their goal is to eliminate concentrations of Russian fighters by deploying the Lyut Special Purpose Assault Brigade, one of Ukraine’s most elite units. These attacks aim to overwhelm the inexperienced Russian stormtroopers, who become trapped inside the high-rises by Ukrainian FPV drones. Additionally, the constant raids disrupt Russian efforts to establish fire positions, as the Lyut Brigade relentlessly assaults them.
The first phase of Ukrainian operations in the high-rise district involves deploying various drones to observe and strike Russian forces around the buildings. Combat footage from the area shows two Russian soldiers attempting to enter a building through its windows to minimize exposure to Ukrainian drones.
One of the soldiers struggled to get through the window and became stuck, making him an easy target for a swift Ukrainian FPV drone strike. Drone activity is so intense that Russian soldiers are struck as soon as they peek out of the windows, with Ukrainian drone operators immediately spotting and targeting them.
Because of this, Russian soldiers are trying to stay and hide inside the high-rise buildings for as long as possible, in fear of becoming another victim of a drone strike. This prevented them from enforcing fire control or observing the surrounding area, which enabled the Ukrainian stormtroopers to approach and enter the buildings.
Combat footage from the area highlights the intensity of Ukrainian raids on the high-rise buildings. Ukrainian stormtroopers advance swiftly on foot toward the entrances to avoid detection by nearby Russian forces. Once inside, each soldier covers specific hallways or corners where Russian troops might be positioned.
After clearing the hallways and ensuring no Russian presence, the Lyut Assault Brigade fighters move to the upper floors. By cutting off the Russian troops there, they proceed to eliminate them while they are trapped in firing positions inside the apartments. Following a successful raid, the Ukrainian stormtroopers exit the building.
Another group of Ukrainian stormtroopers approached a Russian-controlled building in an armored vehicle. While the vehicle’s machine gunner suppressed Russian forces to prevent them from returning fire, the Ukrainian stormtroopers cautiously entered the building.
Rather than engaging in a brutal close-quarters battle with potentially high casualties, the stormtroopers planted heavy explosives at key support walls. After exiting, they detonated the explosives, collapsing the entire building and killing dozens of Russian soldiers trapped inside.
Overall, the Ukrainians managed to trap the Russian fighters inside the high-rise buildings of Toretsk with high drone activity and set the stage to physically assault the isolated Russian forces inside, while also demolishing their firing positions.
The continuation of Ukrainian drone strikes and raids could make the Russian positions in the high-rise area of central Toretsk completely untenable. Simultaneously the Ukrainian demolition squads could destroy Russian positions in these buildings, and by demolishing them, they would render all Russian operations for fire control of the area pointless.
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.
