Today, there are a lot of interesting updates from the Kupiansk direction in Kharkiv Oblast.
Here, Russians made a significant effort to deploy heavily armored units to support their offensive along the Oskil River. However, as Russian commanders sent in more and more manpower and equipment, one after the other was destroyed by Ukrainian drones. This caused some Russian crews to be in such a hurry that they ran over their own soldiers while trying to escape the massacre.
The overarching goal of the Russian forces in this area is to push the Ukrainian forces beyond the Oskil River. To achieve this, Russians are trying to set conditions for an advance on both Kupiansk and Borova by concentrating their offensive efforts around a territorial funnel at Pishchane. However, these efforts have stalled, and Russian forces are attempting to reinforce their infantry along the riverbank with armored vehicle support, hoping this will give them the firepower advantage they need to start advancing on the two towns.
Notably, Russian forces recently expanded the Pishchane funnel to the south, securing a hardened road to provide them with more stable logistics for the fighting along the riverbank. With Ukrainian positions over 5 km away, Russian logistics remain beyond the range of most Ukrainian anti-tank guided missiles. Additionally, topographic maps show that Russian forces are advancing from higher ground, providing a significant advantage in line of sight and engagement range.
Ukrainian drones decimate Russian attacks before they even begin
Ukrainian deep reconnaissance missions revealed that Russians had been regrouping after past failed assaults and were readying themselves for a renewed offensive effort along the funnel. The commander of a Ukrainian drone regiment reported that Russians had started conducting reconnaissance-in-force missions to detect Ukrainian positions. He noted that Russians would often fire over or through these reconnaissance groups, regardless of possible friendly fire, to engage the detected Ukrainian positions.
The increased number of these operations alerted Ukrainians that Russians were planning their offensive soon, allowing them to prepare in advance. Ukrainians intensified their drone surveillance to detect these reconnaissance-in-force assault groups and eliminate them before they could reach Ukrainian lines and expose Ukrainian soldiers to Russian artillery fire. Out of range of Ukrainian direct-fire equipment, this early detection allowed Ukrainians to relay the Russian positions to some of the most elite drone battalions and engage the Russian groups before they could reach the river.
Geolocated combat footage reveals how Ukrainian kamikaze drone operators targeted Russian vehicles moving toward the river. Russians sent single tanks or armored personnel carriers through the funnel, hoping that moving in small numbers would avoid detection. One shot shows a Ukrainian FPV kamikaze drone striking a group of bunched-up Russian soldiers dismounting from a BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicle. After the drone struck, footage from an observation drone shows how the crew of the Russian vehicle started to panic. They attempted to drive off before another drone arrived to finish the job.
Unfortunately for the dismounted Russian soldiers, the crew of the BMP lost all regard for those around them, reversing and crushing several soldiers before driving off and leaving them to die. Additional footage shows how Ukrainians targeted Ural military transport trucks as well, both with FPV drones and drone-dropped grenades, destroying all the soldiers and equipment in the unarmored vehicles.
Desperate and depleted, Russia sends wounded soldiers to die
Due to the many vehicle losses, Russian commanders also sent in soldiers on foot to reinforce their efforts along the river, but they were often promptly hit by drones and grenades. Lastly, the footage shows that even the wounded—some on crutches—were not spared from being sent to the front line, forcing Ukrainians to eliminate the slow-moving targets as they continued to be armed and dangerous despite their injuries.
Overall, Russians tried to build up their forces along the riverbank and launch reconnaissance-in-force operations, but Ukrainian drone operators promptly dismantled them. Despite finishing their reorganization, Russian commanders were apparently already short on reserves, even sending wounded soldiers to the front on crutches. The inability of the Russians to reinforce their forces near the Oskil River with armored vehicles and infantry will significantly reduce their combat capabilities and their ability to launch further assaults here. Ukrainians have successfully prevented Russians from opening up a new avenue of advance.
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.
