30 January 2025. Today, there are a lot of interesting updates from the Pokrovsk direction, Donetsk Oblast.
- Screenshot from Reporting From Ukraine’s video.
Here, the Russian assault near Pokrovsk descends into chaos as poorly executed operations, inhumane treatment, and the sending of wounded soldiers on assaults led to devastating losses and ever-decreasing Russian morale. With Russian commanders resorting to handcuffing their soldiers together to prevent desertions, underlying issues remain unsolved, and Russian soldiers become increasingly unwilling to throw away their lives.
- Screenshot from Reporting From Ukraine’s video.
Russian objectives: Attempts to establish positions on Pokrovsk outskirts
The goal of the Russian forces in this area remains the same: to establish positions on the outskirts of Pokrovsk and the agglomerated settlements. The Russian offensive operation on the city’s western flank near Kotlyne and Udachne is stalling, with Ukrainians launching counterattacks to limit Russian progress. By assaulting Pokrovsk directly, Russians hope to establish a foothold that would nullify their logistical issues caused by a lack of infrastructure to accumulate supplies.
Tactical approach: Forest corridor assaults from Pischane base
To achieve this, the Russian forces are utilizing their positions in the village of Pischane, launching assaults through the forests and tree lines that connect it to the agglomerated settlements on the outskirts of Pokrovsk. The buildings and a nearby mine in Pischane, allowed the Russians to accumulate a large enough force to launch pure-infantry assaults through the narrow tree lines and forest patches to reach and initiate fighting for Zvirove.
- Screenshot from Reporting From Ukraine’s video.
Through these tactics, Russians are trying to utilize the main advantage of their close proximity to Ukrainian positions in Zvirove. Russians are trying to use the tree lines and small forests in the area to conceal their troop movements along this already short distance, allowing Russian forces to quickly reach Ukrainian positions while minimizing losses along the way.
Ukrainian defense: Effective use of drones and artillery
However, Russian assaults are limited by a lake and a small river in the north, forcing them into a narrow funnel south of Zvirove, which Ukrainians have further reinforced with razor wire and landmines. This forces the Russian forces into casualty-intensive assaults. As Ukrainians understood that Russians could only move through this narrow area, they unleashed a swarm of reconnaissance drones equipped with thermal and night vision cameras to monitor the tree lines and strike any Russian forces attempting to attack.
Russian casualties: Multiple assault waves destroyed in narrow corridor
Combat footage from the area reveals how Ukrainians detected the movement of Russian forces with thermal cameras almost immediately after they left their cover. This allowed the Ukrainians to accurately strike the Russian assault with conventional artillery and cluster rounds, inflicting tremendous losses and leaving no survivors. In total, Russian commanders launched four waves of assaults along this tree line over the following forty minutes, with complete disregard for the fact that Ukrainians kept destroying each wave they sent, forcing the Russian soldiers to climb over the deceased bodies of the previous waves.
- Screenshot from Reporting From Ukraine’s video.
Command issues: Extreme measures to prevent desertion
Additional footage from the aftermath of the attack shows one of the surviving Russian soldiers isolated in a dugout, filming himself and stating that his commander refused to evacuate him and the other wounded, leading to him being the only one left alive. Ukrainians quickly detected this soldier, providing him with food and water and guiding him back to Ukrainian lines so he could surrender himself.
Russians also shared another video, showing more wounded soldiers being prepared to go on assault while walking on crutches. As instances of extreme neglect by Russian commanders grow, the morale of Russian soldiers is reaching new lows, creating extreme dissatisfaction and risking massive desertions.
Later footage shared by Russian soldiers in the Pokrovsk direction shows how the commanders solved this issue by tying their soldiers together with handcuffs as they were transported to the front. They feared these men would desert while on their way to the front. Besides the cruelty of such measures, Ukrainians also extensively target Russian transport vehicles moving to the front, meaning that if these trucks are hit, the Russian soldiers have a near-zero chance of escaping the burning wreck alive.
- Screenshot from Reporting From Ukraine’s video.
Operational impact: Declining Russian morale and combat effectiveness
Overall, the mismanagement and poor treatment of their soldiers, combined with poorly executed assaults, are causing massive casualties among Russian forces. Further continuation of such costly assaults will lead to deterioration of combat readiness of remaining Russian forces, while the rapidly deteriorating morale is seeing Russian commanders implement increasingly distressing measures to prevent mass desertions among Russian soldiers.
In our daily 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.
Related:
- Reuters: Russia advances “day and night” at Pokrovsk – while for the first time sparing troops and artillery
- ISW: Ukrainians advance in Kharkiv Oblast and near Donetsk’s Pokrovsk, Russians in few Donetsk directions
- Forbes: Ukrainian tank destroys Russian BMD at point-blank range in Chasiv Yar
- Deepstate: Russia slows down attacks slightly, yet captures Velyka Novosilka
- ISW: Ukraine recaptures Toretsk positions amid Russian advances nearby
- Frontline report: Russian four-man units face infrastructure challenge at Pokrovsk
- Russia claims capture of Velyka Novosilka in Donetsk Oblast; Ukrainian military contests claim
- ISW: Russian forces advance near Donetsk’s Toretsk, Pokrovsk, Kurakhove, and Velyka Novosilka
