A Russian tank explodes at the intersection outside Vuhledar. Via social media There’s a road intersection, a few hundred yards outside the town of Mykilske in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region, that ha...
Tag: Donbas
When Russian Troops Got Stuck In a Minefield Near Vuhledar, They Deployed A ‘Flamethrower’ Rocket Launcher. The Ukrainians Blew It Up.
A TOS-1A the Ukrainians captured last year. Via social media Desperate to break through Ukrainian defenses around Vuhledar, a major strongpoint in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region, the Russian army dep...
Bakhmut Is ‘Soaked In Blood’ As Eight Of Ukraine’s Best Brigades Battle 40,000 Former Russian Prisoners
Volodymyr Zelensky in Bakhmut. Office of the president of Ukraine Russian mercenary firm The Wagner Group since this summer has been trying, and so far failing, to capture the town of Bakhmut in easte...
Anticipating A Russian Attack, The Ukrainian Army Doubled Its Artillery
A Ukrainian army BM-21 rocket-launcher. Ukrainian defense ministry photo In Soviet ground-warfare doctrine, which both the Ukrainian and Russian armies largely still follow, artillery is the decisive ...
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s Personal Brigade Is Fighting One Of the Ukraine War’s Hardest Battles
A 1st Presidential Brigade trooper near Bakhmut. Ukrainian defense ministry photo Officially, it’s the mission of the Ukrainian national guard’s 1st Presidential Brigade to defend the leader of Ukrain...
The Russian Marine Corps’ Dire Choice As Its Troops Die In Record Numbers
155th Guards Naval Infantry Brigade troopers in 2021. Russian defense ministry photo A Russian marine brigade reportedly lost 63 troops in a doomed, two-day assault on Ukrainian positions in eastern U...
Ukraine Is Attacking Everywhere
Ukrainian troops advance in the south. Via social media The Ukrainian armed forces are attacking along three fronts in the south, east and north, reversing some of the territorial gains the Russian ar...
Mobile Missile Teams Striking Fragile Supply Lines
Soldiers from the Ukrainian army’s 14th Mechanized Brigade with a Stugna-P anti-tank missile. Photo via social media Roaming groups of infantry hauling anti-tank missiles, working in the gaps be...
Ukraine’s 93rd Mechanized Brigade Just Liberated A Village From The Russians
The 93rd Mechanized Brigade with a captured ex-Russian T-80 tank. Ukrainian army photo Lately you’ve had to look really hard to find unambiguous good news for either of the armies fighting in Ukraine....
Time Is The Key Factor For The Russian And Ukrainian Military Strategies
The war between Russia and Ukraine recently surpassed the five month mark. What initially started out as a fast-paced, dynamic war has turned into a slow-moving, crushing war of attrition that neither...
There’s A Good Reason Russia’s Artillery Is Running Out Of Ammo. Ukraine Keeps Blowing It Up.
A Russian ammo dump burns near Kherson. Photo via social media Russian artillery is falling quiet in Donbas, if observations by NASA’s fire-detecting satellites are any indication. Well, quieter. Batt...
Yard By Yard, The Ukrainians Appear To Be Pushing Toward Kherson
Ukrainian defense ministry photo Don’t get too excited about unconfirmed reports of Ukrainian forces surrounding hundreds, or even thousands, of Russian troops in a town 60 miles northeast of the port...
The Ukrainian Army Retreats In The East, Advances In The South
Ukrainian defense ministry photo Ukrainian forces have retreated from Lysychansk, the last free city in Luhansk Oblast in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region. The retreat comes weeks after the Ukrainians ...
The Ukrainians’ American-Made Rockets Blast The Russians For The First Time
Ukrainian HIMARS in action. Via social media Ukraine’s new American-made rocket-launchers apparently have fired their first shots at Russian forces. The first-ever documented fire-mission by the High-...
The Ukrainian Military Is Changing Its Tactics With The Bayraktar TB2 Drones
During the first four months of the Russia-Ukraine war, the “Most Valuable Player” award could readily go to the Bayraktar TB2 drone. This drone provided the Ukrainians with the necessary air power to...
Ukrainian Troops Gain Ground In The South, Lose Ground In The East. Is The Trade Worth It?
Ukrainian artillery. Ukrainian defense ministry photo The Ukrainian army is closing in on Russian-occupied Kherson in southern Ukraine. Of course, closing in isn’t the same as liberating it. Infrared ...
Ukrainian Troops Are Pushing Back The Russians In The South
Ukrainian artillery in action. Ukrainian defense ministry photo Ukrainian troops appear to be advancing toward Russian-occupied Kherson in southern Ukraine. Their progress overall is slow, but seeming...
With New Guns And Long-Range Rockets, Ukraine Is Transforming Its Artillery. But Maybe Not Fast Enough.
An ex-Norwegian M-109 howitzer in Ukrainian service. Ukrainian defense ministry As many as a hundred Ukrainian soldiers die every day in the battle for eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region, Ukrainian Defen...
Ukraine Made Just A Handful Of Speedy T-84 Tanks. Now They’re On The Front Line.
A T-84 ‘Oblot,’ possibly in eastern Ukraine. Ukrainian army photo Ukraine produced just five or six copies of one of its best tanks—the T-84 Oplot. That’s enough for just one platoon. But ...
Russia Claims Full Control Of Lyman, Advances Into Strategic City Of Severodonetsk As It Tries To Seize Control Of Donbas
Topline Russia’s Ministry of Defense claimed Saturday it captured the strategic city of Lyman in eastern Ukraine as Russian forces seek to encircle thousands of Ukrainian troops in the nearby city of ...
Russian TV Shows Off Rare 2S4 Mega Mortar-Then Ukraine Blows It Up
A Russian 2S4 self-propelled mortar explodes near a building in southern Rubizhne, Luhansk Oblast, … [+] as recorded by a Ukrainian military drone. Video capture. As Russian troops attempt to br...
Giant Artillery Opens Fire As Russia Goes On The Attack In Donbas
A Russian 2S4 mortar in Donbas. Telegram user @epoddubny capture Fighting has sharply escalated in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region. Both sides are bringing in more and heavier artillery, adding to the...
Putin’s ‘Under Pressure’ Commanders Will Push Unprepared Forces To Donbas, U.K. Defense Ministry Says
Topline Russia will likely hastily redeploy forces from Mariupol to Donbas without time for “adequate preparation” once it has secured the city, the U.K.’s defense ministry said on Friday, as Moscow’s...
Which Ukrainian Troops Are Getting American Howitzers? The Ones Preparing For A Major Counteroffensive.
Ukrainian troops with an M777. Ukrainian defense ministry photo Ukrainian army brigades have begun shooting their new American howitzers at Russian invaders. And not just any brigades. Ukrainian comma...
The Ukrainians Keep Blowing Up Russian Command Posts And Killing Generals
Wrecked vehicles at a destroyed Russian command post. Photo via social media Eight years ago, a trio of Ukrainian army brigades fighting Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region m...
Too Few Troops, Not Enough Supplies—Russia’s Eastern Offensive Could Be Doomed
An abandoned Russian howitzer in Ukraine. Ukrainian defense ministry photo As Russia’s wider war in Ukraine nears its second month, the Kremlin still hasn’t solved its fundamental military problems. T...
Russia Wants ‘Full Control’ Over Ukraine’s South, East And Eyes Part Of Moldova, Commander Says
Topline Russia will try to assert full control over large swathes of eastern and southern Ukraine and could be targeting Ukraine’s neighbor Moldova, a commander of Russia’s Central Military Dist...
Russia Has Begun Its Assault On The Donbas Region, Ukraine Says
Topline Russian forces attempted to break Ukrainian frontlines across the Donbas region in Eastern Ukraine Monday, President Volodymyr Zelensky and a Ukrainian security official said, confirming weeks...
Russian Forces ‘Fully Withdrawn’ From Northern Ukraine, U.K. Defense Ministry Says
Topline Russian forces have now “fully withdrawn” from northern Ukraine and at least some will be transferred to fight in the eastern Ukraine, the U.K.’s defense ministry said on Friday, as Moscow shi...