With several river crossings, the Russian army wanted to force a decision in the Donbass. The amateurish planning led to a catastrophe. Photos show the rubble of an entire battalion combat group.
Russia’s army learns nothing from the mistakes of the first months of the war. While Putin’s offensive in the Donbass continues, his troops are suffering unbearable casualties. Drone photos published by the Ukrainian 17th Armored Brigade on Telegram show how disastrous the situation is. A destroyed pontoon bridge can be seen on them, and the burnt-out wrecks of more than 50 vehicles, including tanks and infantry fighting vehicles, stand in the vicinity.
The greater part of a Russian battalion combat group was wiped out here. A disaster for Putin’s army.
The bridge was intended to bring troops across the Siwerskyj Donez river – usually just called Donez in Germany. This tributary of the Don flows west-east and forms a natural line of defense for the Ukrainian-controlled part of the Donbass. At first glance, the Donets looks like a river in the photos, but it is a big stream. A Ukrainian officer estimates the width at the location of the pontoon bridge to be about 80 meters – including the bank that the bridge has to span, with such a high flow rate that the pontoons have to be held in position with motor boats.
Attempt at encirclement
The Russians crossed this river at several points, cutting off the north-eastern corner of Kyiv-controlled territory. The so-called Sievjerodonetsk Triangle, named after the city of Sievjerodonetsk with a population of 100,000. The city should have threatened the Russian forces with this bridge by blocking the road to the west some five kilometers from the river crossing. Despite the proximity to the road, the point of attack is difficult. There is a swampy forest landscape along the Donets, and there are no durable roads in the zone. On the Russian side, the river crossing was hailed as a major breakthrough. If she had succeeded across the board, things would have been bad for the triangle.
End of a whole battalion combat group
The photos now show unequivocally that the attack failed. The bridge, including a motorized unit, was completely destroyed. On Twitter, a Ukrainian officer describes the defense against the attack. Whether the account is really authentic cannot be checked, but the accuracy of the description speaks for itself. Even before the Russians started building the bridge, the Ukrainians were ready to attack. They noted the deployment of Russian forces on the other side – in the most favorable place for bridging.
Heavy artillery was measured to the point even before the Russians started building the bridge. Despite poor visibility, the assembly was noticed because of the construction noise. When the Russians had assembled the eight bridge segments and first forces translated, the Ukrainians struck. The bridge was destroyed, which is said to have cut off larger Russian troops on the other side. After a day of fierce fighting, they were forced to retreat across the rubble of the bridge, leaving their equipment behind. According to Ukrainian information, the situation is similar at five points where Russian troops tried to cross the river.
Russian power is waning
If this information is correct, then Putin has suffered a really heavy defeat. The Russian army is suffering from too few soldiers anyway, the battalion group deployed here is severely decimated, for the most part worn out and not operational for a long time even when replenished with soldiers and material. The successful defense shows how inadequately the operation was planned. It had been expected for days that Russian troops would try to cross the river, so they couldn’t expect a surprise. It was to be expected that there would be resistance and casualties. Nevertheless, the bridgehead was not secured by commandos on the other side. Large forces of artillery and air support should have been available to hold down the Ukrainian defences, especially the heavy artillery. This was obviously neglected, the Russian troops and not the Ukrainians were shot down. Under heavy fire, the crossing of a motorized unit could not succeed.
Beyond the battle, this event shows that even during several weeks of the Donbass offensive, the Russian army failed to eliminate Ukrainian artillery or cut off supplies. Moscow has achieved neither an operational breakthrough nor a noticeable weakening of the Ukrainian combat capability. At the same time, Ukrainian troops are advancing on the Russian border near Kharkov. Should they continue their advance, they threaten the base of the Russian attacks in Donbass. That would be the end of the offensive. In any case, Moscow must stop the Ukrainian troops, but in view of the losses, this is becoming increasingly difficult.
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Source: Stern
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