Ukraine’s army has inflicted massive casualties on Vladimir Putin’s forces, after clearing up pockets of isolated Russian units in a devastating counterattack on the eastern front. Earlier in the summer, Russia’s army appeared to have made a major breakthrough in Dobropillia, about 36 kilometres north of Pokrovsk.
Hundreds of Russian troops pierced through a porous defence in August, advancing more than 15 kilometres beyond Ukrainian lines. Kyiv’s military has since launched its own counterattack, successfully trapping Russian units in isolated pockets, cut off from supplies and reinforcements. Ukrainian forces have stealthily continued to mop up the remnants of those Russian units, collapsing the pockets one after another.
Seniors Russian commanders reportedly remained unaware of the critical situation faced by their isolated units, due to false reports from their junior officers.
When they finally became aware of the unfolding emergency, they ordered desperate mechanised counterattacks near Shakhove.
Russian armour soon got bogged down in Ukrainian minefields and was exposed to wave after wave of drone attacks.
The First Azov Corps alone reported 1,226 Russian casualties, 23 armoured vehicles destroyed, 130 other vehicles lost, and 39 artillery systems eliminated in just one week.
The rescue attempts ended up in disaster, with drone footage showing Russian soldiers seeking shelter in anti-tank ditches.
However, they were easy prey for Ukrainian UAVs, which swept in for the kill. At the same time Ukrainian snipers positioned in recently liberated tree lines picked off any Russians escaping from the trenches.
Meanwhile, Russian forces continue to tighten the noose around Pokrovsk, where intense fighting has raged for over a year.
The Kremlin is desperate to seize the Donbas city, a key logistics and transport hub for Ukraine’s army on its eastern axis.
Ukraine’s military has rushed special force units to the area, in a bid to shore up the city’s defence.
General Oleksandr Syrskyi said Ukrainian troops were fending off a “multi-thousand enemy” force – but denied Russian claims that they were surrounded or blocked.
