Today, there are a lot of important updates from the Pokrovsk direction, Donetsk Oblast.
Here, Ukrainians executed a coordinated assault to reclaim Kotlyne, breaking through Russian defenses in a powerful shock assault. With Russian defenses horribly undermanned and understrength, elite Ukrainian assault units exploited their weaknesses to the maximum effect.
The goal of the Ukrainian forces in this area is to retake control of the settlement of Kotlyne. Russians are trying to use Kotlyne to cut off the main supply road leading into Pokrovsk. By retaking Kotlyne, Ukrainians would not only force Russians to halt their flanking operations, but also restore their ground lines of communication with Ukrainian forces in Udachne, while encircling the Russians in the industrial zone of Kotlyne.
To achieve this, the Ukrainians conducted a multi-phase ground assault operation. The Ukrainian plan was first to suppress the Russian forces in Kotlyne with intense drone strikes and artillery shelling, preventing them from maintaining their defenses and blocking their reinforcements. Subsequently, special forces and paratroopers would launch a combined assault and clear the village of Russian forces.
The main advantage of the Ukrainian forces in this area is that they previously dismantled the outer perimeter of Russian defenses of Kotlyne with several special forces raids.
Furthermore, due to the constant Ukrainian drone and artillery strikes on Russian logistics, Russian forces on the frontline were increasingly undermanned and understrength. Russians could only maintain a platoon-sized force of 40 to 50 soldiers in the town, roughly a quarter of what they would need to mount a proper defense.
Additionally, as Russian forces could only move to Kotlyne on foot, they had been unable to strengthen their defenses with any heavy weapons, leaving the Russian soldiers in Kotlyne dangerously outmatched.
On the other hand, Russians maintained control over the industrial zone of Kotlyne, providing powerful defensive positions for the Russians. This would make any head-on assault of these facilities a bloody endeavour, as Ukrainian commanders devised a plan to starve out the Russians instead.
Combat footage from the area reveals how the Ukrainian forces initiated their counterattack with intense drone and artillery strikes on Russian positions in a compound guarding the entry into Kotlyne. After dismantling Russian firing positions, Ukrainian special forces from the 3rd regiment conducted thunder run assaults to cause further chaos in the compound.
The Ukrainians used speed and shock to overwhelm the remaining Russian defenders, firing through the walls of buildings with 50 calibre machine guns as if they were made of paper. By doing this, the Ukrainian special operators drove past and into the Russian rear, breaking the enemy’s cohesion and causing massive casualties as Russians tried desperately to mount a defense.
These thunder runs rendered Russians incapable of setting up an organized resistance against the main Ukrainian force, allowing elite Airborne units from the 25th brigade to conduct the ground assault to capture the village.
The Ukrainian paratroopers capitalized on the shock created by the special forces, clearing out the remaining Russian positions in the village in house-to-house combat. All the while, Ukrainian heavy drones circled the town, providing direct fire support for the ground assault units with drone-dropped grenades.
Finally, the last remaining Russian positions at Kotlyne, consisting of dugouts and trench networks in the tree lines surrounding the settlement, were cleared by the 425th assault battalion to consolidate complete control of the village. Additional footage reveals how five Ukrainian operators from the 130th Skala Battalion managed to corner ten Russian soldiers in a dugout. Ukrainians pinned them down with grenades and small arms fire, allowing them to surround the dugout, killing eight Russian soldiers and taking two prisoners.
In the end, Ukrainians successfully recaptured the northern part of Kotlyne and are currently actively working to clear the thick tree belt along the railway line to the south. By further tightening the already narrow corridor to the Russian position in the industrial zone, Russians have been effectively taken into a pocket.
While Russian commanders will likely attempt to mount a counteroffensive to push Ukrainians back, they continue to be unable to coordinate larger assaults due to Ukrainian disruption strikes in the Russian rear, meaning that Ukrainians are likely to restore complete control over the surrounding area as well.
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.
