On 26 October, three of the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ top American-made vehicles—a pair of M-2 Bradley fighting vehicles and an M-1 Abrams tank—were spotted in combat in Russia’s Kursk Oblast. They breached Russian defenses south of the small village of Novy Put, visible through a drone field of vision. Meanwhile, the Donbas front desperately needs weapons and equipment to halt major Russian offensives, writes Forbes.
Ukraine seeks to reclaim territory lost to Russian forces in Donbas. Following a series of counteroffensives, Ukrainian troops have made some gains, retaking critical villages in the Donetsk Oblast. However, the situation is precarious, with Russian forces recently capturing towns like Avdiivka and Vuhledar and advancing towards Pokrovsk. By October 2024, Russian officials claimed to have gained approximately 1,000 square kilometers of territory in Donbas.
The report says that the Bradleys advanced, using smoke for cover and firing their automatic cannons with support from the Abrams. Russian forces attempting to repel the attack from nearby treelines failed. However, the publication questions the purpose of this action, given that Novy Put is far from Kurakhove in Donetsk Oblast, where critical battles are currently taking place.
“While the Ukrainian army’s elite 47th Mechanized Brigade—the sole user of Ukraine’s M-2s and M-1s—wins meaningless fights outside a Russian border village, a battered Ukrainian air assault brigade, the 79th, is barely holding onto its defensive line in the town of Illinka, six miles south of Kurakhove.
If Illinka falls, it’s likely Kurakhove will fall, too. If Kurakhove falls, the Russians could pinch half a dozen Ukrainian brigades into a salient in southern Donetsk Oblast. Forcing a salient—or a “bag,” to borrow Ukrainian journalist Stanislav Aseyev’s term—is a classic battlefield tactic and one the Russian army in Ukraine has used to devastating effect in recent months,” wrote Forbes.
Aseyev explains that Russians continue to employ this tactic, surrounding Ukrainian positions from three sides and leaving a narrow “throat” for retreat. This often leads even combat-capable units to panic at the thought of encirclement, resulting in withdrawal.
According to journalists, if the Ukrainian Defense Forces lose these territories, they will have to desperately hold the fortress city of Pokrovsk. But if Pokrovsk is also lost, their entire defense line in eastern Ukraine could collapse.
The report notes that while the stakes are immense in eastern Ukraine, they remain ambiguous in Kursk Oblast. Strong Ukrainian forces with numerous advanced foreign vehicles invaded the region in early August, quickly capturing hundreds of square kilometers. This was an impressive tactical feat, but the strategic consequences of the attack remain unclear.
“If Ukraine was trying to draw significant Russian forces into Kursk in order to deplete the Russian forces in eastern Ukraine, it failed: Russia has been able to counterattack in Kursk without slowing its offensive in Donetsk.
If Ukraine aims to hold part of Kursk in order to trade it for parts of Russian-occupied Ukraine during any future peace negotiations, it’s apparently betting it won’t lose more Ukrainian soil as a consequence of the invasion than it gains in the possible negotiations. That’s not a safe bet,“ notes Forbes.
Some Ukrainian military personnel share the same doubts about the Kursk Oblast’s value amidst the battles for Illinka and the risks of losing Kurakhove and Pokrovsk. They believe that the Bradleys and Abrams should be in eastern Ukraine, helping to contain the relentless Russian offensive.
Related:
- Russia uses golf carts and motorcycles for assaults in Donetsk Oblast
- Russian forces reportedly enter Selydove city council building – DeepState
- ISW: Ukrainians advance near Toretsk, Pokrovsk; Russians gain ground near Chasiv Yar, Kurakhove
- Frontline report: Ukrainian forces decimate Russian recon units and halt advance in Toretsk using coal mine heights
