Frontline report: Ukrainians destroy 300 Russian troops on Zaporizhzhian front; intense fighting in Zherebianka

Day 481. A lot of updates came from the Zaporizhzhia Oblast today. This is where the most intense battles took place around Piatykhatky. First of all, Ukrainian fighters confirmed visually today that they have total control over Piatykhatky.

They captured lots of Russian ammunition from the 128th Assault Brigade. Interestingly, Russian sources claimed yesterday that they retreated tactically and moved back to safer positions around the settlement. But today, they admitted that Ukrainians attacked them from two sides, cut off their retreat routes, trapped them in a pocket and wiped out the Storm Ossetia Battalion along with their commander. This means that more than 300 Russian troops and their equipment were destroyed.

Today, Ukrainian forces regrouped and launched new attacks. Yesterday, I predicted that Ukrainians would launch two attacks on the flanks and one towards Zherebianka. And that's exactly what happened today. Russian sources reported that the 128th Assault Brigade advanced from the western part of the village.

Looking at the topographic map, we can see that these are the tactical heights that Russians supposedly retreated to.

The fighting was extremely fierce because both sides decided to launch counterattacks at the same time. Fortunately, Ukrainians had dug trenches and fortified the western part of the village before the attack. So they fell back to their new defensive positions and repelled the attack. Some Russian sources claimed that Piatykhatky was recaptured by Russians. But even the most prominent Russian sources denied this. After this clash, the intensity of fighting in this region decreased. Both sides were surprised and lacked resources to launch a second wave. Especially since another big battle was happening in front of Zherebianka. Russian sources reported that Ukrainians advanced from the forest and assaulted the first line of trenches and fortifications on the line. Several Russian sources said that they retreated tactically to the hills around Zherebianka. But they also said that Ukrainians couldn't take the empty positions because of the intense artillery fire. Ukrainian sources reported that Ukrainian forces breached two Russian strong points in a tree line on a small hill. And they continued to penetrate deeper into Russian defenses. Ukrainian sources also reported that Russians feared running out of reserves and seeing a complete collapse of the front line. So they decided to increase their artillery support by redeploying more guns to this region. Ukrainian Intelligence discovered that Russians were relocating thermobaric artillery systems TOS-1, tanks, and multiple-launch rocket systems somewhere around Dolynka. But such redeployment processes turned out to be deadly for Russians recently. The mayor of Melitopol reported that around two days ago, when Ukrainians had just launched their first attack toward Piatykhatky, Russian forces tried to reinforce their troops by relocating heavy equipment from the Kakhovka region. But the column never reached the front because Ukrainian partisans destroyed it, likely by detonating explosives on the road. He also added that Ukrainian partisans blew up a vital railway connection just south of Melitopol. This further complicated Russian logistics and made it harder to plug the holes in their defense line. In our daily frontline report, we pair up with the military blogger Reporting from Ukraine to keep you informed about what’s happening on the battlefield in the Russo-Ukrainian war.