Frontline report: Ukraine traps Russian forces in Kursk direction after calculated withdrawal

Day 995

On 14 November, the biggest news came from the Kursk direction.

Here, Ukrainians perfectly executed a complex tactical maneuver to eliminate the Russian spearhead while maintaining their combat potential, leading to the complete encirclement of the Russian assault group.

The Russian relief operation launched on the Ukrainian flanks also ended in disaster, leading to Russian casualties soaring to an all-time high.

As you may remember from the last report, Ukrainians completely dismantled the Russian mechanized assault on Malaya Loknya, destroying 15 armored vehicles with mines and drones. Still, Russians managed to penetrate quite deep into Ukrainian territory, driving through multiple towns in the northern part of the salient.

Ukrainians realized that holding on to settlements in the face of such a large Russian mechanized attack would be costly to Ukrainian forces. This led to Ukrainians temporarily abandoning the settlements and returning to better positions.

If we look at the topographic map, we can see that the road and settlements leading to Malaya Loknya run through the lowlands, surrounded by forests and hills to the west and east. Ukrainians withdrew from the settlements to the high ground, letting the Russian convoy pass through and allowing it to be destroyed by previously placed mines and FPV drones.

Russians dropped off several smaller infantry groups in the settlements they drove past. The Russian plan was for these groups to provide an all-around defense and secure the road for additional reinforcements to pass through in the future. However, these groups were left vulnerable without support after the mechanized forces were destroyed. Meanwhile, Ukrainians had saved their combat power by not engaging the Russian assault outright and were in a much stronger position in the forests and on top of the hills.

As Russians did not have enough soldiers to cover the settlements completely, Ukrainians rapidly moved into the gaps and encircled the Russian soldiers stuck in the settlements. Russians realized the disaster unfolding and sent several armored vehicles to break through to the encircled soldiers.

This time, Ukrainians did not allow the Russians to pass through, as geolocated footage shows several Russian armored vehicles being destroyed by Ukrainian defenders. Russian military analysts later confirmed that no reinforcements were able to break through to their soldiers and that these groups had been fully cut off for days, relying solely on supplies dropped from drones.

Russians increased the pressure on the Ukrainian western flank to salvage the situation and turn the tide of the battle, launching five waves of mechanized assaults on Novoivanovka in only one day. Here is where Ukrainians inflicted massive casualties on Russian forces, destroying 18 out of 29 Russian armored vehicles in the process.

Still, Russians were able to land several infantry groups in the settlement and the tree lines around it, posing a substantial threat to the Ukrainian western flank. Ukrainians promptly dealt with the Russian threat by sending in several mechanized assault groups, supported by Bradley Infantry Fighting vehicles, to clear out the Russian positions. Impressively, the Ukrainian modifications to the Bradley’s armor allowed them to shrug off several hits by Russian FPV kamikaze drones, and safely deploy their infantry to clear the positions.

Overall, Ukrainians demonstrated expert control of the situation and their movements, allowing them to gain tactical superiority over the Russian assault forces. Executing a maneuver, such as withdrawing from the settlements and returning, during actual combat, takes expert timing and coordination, which is only possible with well-trained and rested soldiers.

Russian casualties soared, as Ukrainian soldiers noted that Russians had lost over three hundred men during their failed assaults on Novoivanovka and the subsequent Ukrainian counterattacks. Russian analysts were also among the first to state that Ukrainians had effectively localized the threat of the initial Russian spearhead and took back control over the settlements.

Now, the only danger to Ukrainian operations is that the encircled Russian soldiers are located directly on the Ukrainian supply road to Pogrebki. However, with the threat of Russian attacks from the West dealt with, Ukrainians can now focus on destroying the encircled Russian soldiers and reestablishing complete control over the area.

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.

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