New footage has captured the moment Ukrainian forces destroying a series of Russian tanks and infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) in yet more successful pinpoint strikes.
Ukrainian strikes picked off four tanks and two IFVs, making it one of the largest assaults on Russian tanks since the war began over two years ago.
The armoured vehicles were travelling close to the village of Toneke, west of Avdiivka, in an area of Ukraine where Russia already losing significant military assets in territorial gains.
Russia captured Avdiivka, previously a Ukrainian stronghold, in February, with fighting since spreading to the west of the city, raising the alarm over Russian advances as they have already claimed multiple villages.
Ukraine’s Defense Ministry reported the strikes on Monday, heaping praise on paratroopers from the 25th Airborne Brigade – who prevented a “massive” attack near Toneke.
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Defence of Ukraine and the 25th Airborne Brigade both shared footage of the strikes, which appears to show the vehicles being wiped out one by one in a series of precision hits. The 25th Airborne Brigade said it “destroyed a column of enemy equipment”.
The think tank the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) described the attack as the “first battalion-sized mechanised assault” since the assault on Avdiivka began in October 2023.
In March 2023, Ukrainian officials told The New York Times that three weeks of fighting around the village of Vuhledar caused the “biggest tank battle of the war so far”.
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Initial waves of attacks on Avdiivka inflicted heavy losses on Russia’s tanks and armoured vehicles, prompting Russia to switch to infantry-led attacks to “conserve armoured vehicles following the first two waves of assaults on the settlement,” according to the ISW.
The Ukrainian think tank the Centre for Defence Strategies said Russia had “reintroduced the employment of armoured vehicles, including tanks” around Avdiivka.
Despite the successful strikes, Russian forces continue to advance to the west and southwest of Avdiivka, according to the ISW’s most recent report.
