Day 1119
On 18 March, there are a lot of interesting updates from the Pokrovsk direction.
General Mykhailo Drapaty, after stabilizing the situation on the front, managed to set the stage for decisive counterattacks that turned the tide of battle in the most critical sector of the front line, Pokrovsk.
As mentioned in the last report, Drapaty led an intense campaign against Russian logistics, turning supply routes into death traps and drastically slowing their advance.
He rotated brigades off the frontline, reinforced positions with experienced fighters, and improved coordination, allowing Ukrainians to build and hold new defensive lines. With these defenses in place, Russian forces were unable to find meaningful gains anywhere, as they continued to throw their men into frontal meat grinder assaults.
At the same time, the Russian counteroffensive to push the Ukrainians out of Kursk was in full swing, defended against by some of the most elite and well-equipped Ukrainian combat brigades. This was the last thing Russians needed, as the Ukrainian defense in Kursk continued to deal more and more casualties to Russian forces, many reserves, that the Russian high command preferred to send to Pokrovsk, would have to be sent to Kursk instead, as the elite VDV and naval infantry core of the Russian army continued to suffer devastating losses at Kursk.
However, this was coming at a significant cost to the Russian efforts at Pokrovsk, as Russians were suffering a casualty rate nearly twice as high in this direction, taking over 15 thousand losses, of which 7 thousand were killed, during January alone.
With Russians running low on reserves, they resorted to desperate measures at Pokrovsk. Russians started sending the wounded to frontline positions and on active assault operations more and more frequently. Recognizing the situation was shifting in their favor, Drapty ordered his forces to prepare a decisive series of counterattacks in the Pokrovsk direction, planning to implement the lessons he learned from his previous offensives into this situation.
In early 2022, Drapaty was appointed deputy commander of the Southern Operational Command, where his forces halted the Russian advance from Kherson toward Kryvyi Rih and stabilized the front until Ukraine gathered reserves for a counteroffensive—just as he later did in Pokrovsk.
He coordinated precision strikes on Russian supply routes, including key bridges, cutting off reinforcements and weakening Russian frontline troops ahead of Ukraine’s offensive.
During the 2022 Kherson counteroffensive, Drapaty led the main Ukrainian advance toward the city, identifying weak points in Russian lines and deploying fast-moving armored units in thunder-run tactics deep behind enemy positions. His men credit his leadership as playing a key role in the eventual liberation of Kherson, as he gained significant popularity amongst Ukrainian people for his actions.
After stabilizing Pokrovsk, Drapaty identified key Russian weaknesses on the western flank after taking command in January 2025. Like at Kherson, he ordered a massive logistics striking campaign, but this time using massive amounts of drones, which he did not have at Kherson. Because of this, Russian supply lines collapsed, increasingly using horses, donkeys, and camels, even handcuffing their soldiers together to prevent desertions, while cramming troops into pickup trucks to keep up the unsustainable tempo of assaults.
Subsequently, he deployed quick thunder-run assault tactics with mechanized assault units to strike at the weakest points in Russian defenses, near Kotlyne, Pischane, and Uspenivka, chipping away at Russian defenses. After these successful operations, he ordered larger counterattacks to clean up the fragmented Russian positions, retaking several key settelements and fortifications to enhance Pokrovsk’s defense.
This resulted in the Ukrainian forces effectively retaking lost territories in the Pokrovsk direction for the first time in over one-and-a-half years of constant defense. What is even more significant is that the counterattacks restored control over the most important and well-fortified parts of the defense line in front of Pokrovsk, pushing Russians back into the empty fields.
Overall, the appointment of Mykhailo Drapaty as the commander of Ukrainian forces near Pokrovsk allowed them to retake the initiative in one of the most difficult parts of the front and go on the offensive. Drapaty’s ability to coordinate the soldiers under his command, listen to their input, and incorporate previous lessons learned into an ever-changing battlefield proved to be the key to Ukrainian success.
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:
- Russia claims adherence to energy strike truce after Trump-Putin call while accusing Ukraine of violations
- Frontline report: Ukraine’s youngest general stabilizes Pokrovsk front
- Kursk: Ukraine’s success or failure? Western defense experts and a soldier speak out
