20 July.
Today, the most interesting developments come from the Toretsk direction in Donetsk Oblast.
Here, Russians attempted to continue their spearhead offensive in Niu-York (also known as New York, – Ed.) but were fiercely countered by Ukrainian fire from all sides.
Firstly, Russians are trying to deepen their breakthrough and drive a wedge in the Ukrainian lines. After that, Russians will try to link up with their offensive efforts in Pivnichne to the north and outflank Ukrainian defenses to the west.
Russians will prioritize a northern advance, however, as they can then support their current advance toward Toretsk, a crucial Ukrainian fortress city and logistics hub in the region.
Now, Russians continue to bomb the industrial zone with FAB glide bombs, as this is the central defensive position still entirely under Ukrainian control, where manpower and ammunition are stored, and the defense is coordinated.
Russian drone detachments are also active here, dropping grenades on Ukrainian positions and providing overwatch for Russian assault groups.
Despite intense Russian bombing, Russian forces have not been able to make any advancements since last week for multiple reasons. The first being is that Ukrainians constantly target these Russian assault groups with FPV drones and drone-dropped grenades of their own.
Geolocated footage shows a Ukrainian FPV drone hitting a building a Russian assault group was sheltering in. The footage, taken from an observation drone, also shows that at least one soldier had been wounded, indicating this group had already been hit earlier by Ukrainians and that these soldiers were those that had survived the initial attack.
If you want to get access to the original uncensored combat footage, you can find it on Reporting from Ukraine’s Telegram channel.
The second reason becomes clear after Russians released geolocated footage from a Russian FPV drone, showing a hit on a Ukrainian MaxxPro armored vehicle mounted with a 50-millimeter-caliber heavy machine gun. While the footage shows the armored truck was hit from the top and destroyed, the presence of the MaxxPro continues to show how Ukrainians use their positions on top of the hills surrounding Niu-York to fire down and into advancing Russian units.
Geolocated footage also shows that Ukrainians had advanced their area of control toward the south of the settlement. In these cases, Ukrainians don’t have to physically counterattack in order to gain ground, as they can expand their FPV fire control and deny Russian units entry to an area, saving Ukrainian soldiers’ lives.
Despite both sides not posting combat footage due to the high intensity of fighting, both Russian and Ukrainian sources implicate that Russians are losing the fight for the high-rise district in Niu-York. They note that Ukrainian fighters had counterattacked and retaken control over several streets, isolating Russians in and to the apartment complexes.
As you remember, Russians dug a tunnel from Novoselivka to here that was only big enough to move one soldier through at a time, also making it impossible to evacuate their wounded. As such, Russian losses in the high-rise district have quickly mounted.
Russians were also unable to properly connect their forces here to the rest of the spearhead, meaning the only thing they could do to continue the fight was pour more men into the one-way deathtrap of the high-rise. It is important to note that while Russians are practically isolated in the apartment complexes, it will still be a tough fight for Ukrainians to push them out. The interconnected rooms, hallways, many windows, stairways, and no possibility of retreat for Russian fighters, will make it an urban combat hell for everyone involved.
In general, Russian forces have committed most of their reserves to the frontline to put pressure on Ukrainians, who have trouble defending against multiple such offensives. Ukrainian analysts note that the Russian high command has done this to undermine international support for Ukraine and force Ukraine into negotiations with Russia.
However, these series of offensives do not come without a price.
The Institute for the Study of War states that while Russian forces are able to make slight territorial gains, these come at a high cost in human life and have led the Russian forces to commit underequipped units to reinforce these grinding assaults. They state that the Russian military-industrial complex is unable to meet the rising demand for Russian forces fully.
This all-out approach has also led to one Russian officer coming forward, stating that his brigade had actually lost over 12,000 men throughout the war, while the official number is only 6,000. He finishes by saying that if there are already 12,000 casualties in one brigade, how many Russian soldiers have died over the entire front?
While Russian forces are rapidly draining their combat capabilities, Ukrainians, in turn, are strengthening theirs. Western military aid continues to flow into the country, and The Kyiv Independent reported that over 4 million Ukrainian military-aged men have already signed up for the draft.
Additionally, Polish authorities have signed a bilateral security agreement stating that the Polish Armed Forces will train and equip Ukrainian volunteers under a Polish Legion, further bolstering Ukrainian armed forces in the future. Overall, Russians have decided on an all-out approach, deploying even underequipped units to reinforce grinding offensive operations.
Meanwhile, Ukrainians are rebuilding their strength to better hold the defense and build up strong operational reserves to counterattack where possible. In Donetsk’s New York, the Russian offensive is stagnating as Russians are unable to cope with Ukrainian drone strikes and intense fire from the hills. Ukrainians are slowly able to push forward, encircling Russians in the high-rise district and condemning Russian soldiers to a one-way trip through the tunnels.
In our regular frontline report, we pair up with the military blogger Reporting from Ukraine to keep you informed about what is happening on the battlefield in the Russo-Ukrainian war.
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