Day 1105

On 4 March, there are a lot of important updates from the Toretsk direction.

Here, Ukrainian forces are tightening the noose around Russian positions in Toretsk, advancing deep into the city with a well-executed pincer maneuver. What started as a series of targeted raids has now turned into a counteroffensive, rapidly undoing months of Russian gains.

The goal of the Ukrainian forces in this area is to retake the initiative from the Russians and re-establish control of Toretsk. This is because Russians are trying to advance past Toretsk and set conditions for a future offensive effort toward Kostyantinivka to the north.

To deny the Russians complete control of Toretsk, the Ukrainians utilized their powerful fortifications near the northern coal mine and around the terrikons to the west as staging grounds for raids deep into the city. This way, the Ukrainians could constantly disrupt the Russian plans as they destroyed the Russian positions and eliminated their soldiers in isolated holdouts.

Ukraine’s key advantage in this area is its complete fire control over Toretsk using drones. This forces Russian troops to move in small squads, staying hidden in buildings and basements to avoid strikes. The situation is worsened by the constant threat of Ukrainian kamikaze drones, which prevent even tanks and armored vehicles from providing fire support. As a result, Russian soldiers in the city are effectively unable to engage openly, fearing immediate drone attacks.

Russia’s failure to establish fire control over Toretsk’s main supply road has allowed Ukraine to maintain a steady flow of logistics, reinforcements, and heavy equipment into the town.

As you remember from the previous report, Russians have had to halt their close air support operations due to Ukrainians transferring additional man-portable air defense systems into the area.

Geolocated combat footage shows how a squad of Ukrainian soldiers dismounted from an armored car and approached a Russian position in a residential building. The Ukrainians suppressed the position with intense machine-gun fire, allowing them to place several packages of tied together TM-62 anti-tank mines at the Russian position before safely returning to their vehicle.

As they exfiltrated the area, the Russian stronghold within the house and the basement was destroyed in the massive explosion that followed, eliminating anyone hiding inside, while the Ukrainian squad took zero casualties.

After expanding the gray zone through constant raids like this, Russian control over central and northern Toretsk, aside from the high-rise district, had quickly deteriorated. Most of the city consists of destroyed one-story houses, forcing Russian troops to hide in basements to avoid Ukrainian kamikaze drones, leaving them unable to mount an effective defense. This allowed Ukrainian forces to raid, suppress, and eliminate Russian positions with explosives. Additionally, the high-rise district was so severely damaged that Russian troops could only establish minimal, ineffective firing positions, preventing them from enforcing fire control.

As the Ukrainians gradually destroyed Russian positions one by one, they were able to advance progressively further into the city center. Geolocated combat footage recently shared by Russian soldiers shows a Ukrainian armored vehicle operating in and rotating an assault unit all the way near the coal mine close to the city center, revealing how far Ukrainian positions stretch in reality.

Additional geolocated footage shared by Ukrainian soldiers shows how Ukrainian soldiers even already maintain consolidated positions in the high-rise district. The footage shows how one Russian soldier attempted to conduct a similar raid to blow up the Ukrainian position. However, as he was sent alone and without support, he was quickly eliminated and finished off by small arms fire and a kamikaze drone strike.

Overall, the Ukrainian advance through localized raids managed to expand the gray zone and drive Russians out from a large part of Toretsk. Russians have already lost over 12 thousand soldiers trying to take Toretsk, which, along with the Ukrainian advances, indicates that Russians might now instead be suffering from personnel shortages, turning the tables and allowing Ukrainians to take advantage of gaps in the line instead. With the recently released footage showing the depth of Ukrainian operations into previously Russian-controlled streets, Ukrainians will likely be able to consolidate even more tactically important positions, undoing months of Russian progress.

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.

Read also:

• Frontline report: New Swedish MANPADS help Ukraine push Russian air force out of Toretsk
• Frontline report: Ukrainian forces exploit shock tactics to reclaim vital supply route near Pokrovsk
• Frontline report: Ukraine’s drones take 53 million tons of Russian oil offline, crippling 10% of refining capacity