Today, there are a lot of interesting updates from the Pokrovsk direction.
Here, in one of the most bizarre offensives of the war so far, Russia just launched a massive mechanized assault near Pokrovsk, led by 150 motorcycles. After Ukrainian drones caught them mid-preparation, the operation unraveled fast, leaving the fields littered with burning bikes, wrecked armor, and stranded troops.
The goal of the Russian forces in this area is to advance and secure the key Pokrovsk-Kostyantinivka highway by advancing on the eastern flank of Pokrovsk. Earlier, the Ukrainian forces pushed them away from the positions near the highway and blew up an important stronghold at the highway intersection that the Russians previously held. Now that the weather is improving, they want to retake it to continue their advances.
To retake this key intersection, the Russians are conducting massive mechanized assaults in combination with motorcycle-based reconnaissance units leading the assaults.
The main advantage of the Russian forces in this area is the good weather, without any rain to muddy the ground, which would otherwise complicate any armored attacks. Furthermore, the intersection and its surroundings are located on a higher elevation, meaning there is less mud in the fields from previous rainy days, enabling mechanized assaults.
However, Russian maneuverability is limited by an extensive network of Ukrainian fortifications, as the Ukrainian anti-tank ditches stretch across the grey zone between the intersection and any possible Russian avenue of attack. This denies Russian units any maneuverability, as they are forced to move through a predictable bottlenecked road, which Ukrainians turned into a kill zone with land mines and tight drone observation, making any Russian assault inevitably casualty-intensive. On top of that, the Ukrainians had also placed dragoon teeth and barbed wire fortifications in front of the intersection, meaning that any surviving Russian forces would have to stop their movement to destroy these barricades, prolonging their exposure to Ukrainian FPV drones and firing positions nearby.
Russian forces launched their assault with 150 infantry mounted on motorcycles, aiming to exploit speed and maneuverability while bypassing the Ukrainian dragon’s teeth fortifications. The bikes’ narrow frames and light weight allowed them to slip through gaps and avoid triggering anti-tank mines, which are calibrated for heavier vehicles. This tactic reduces initial infantry losses and forces Ukrainians to engage each rider individually with FPV drones, raising the risk of some breaking through the lines. Survivors could then secure forward positions, scout Ukrainian defenses, and dismantle obstacles like barbed wire and dragon’s teeth to clear a path for advancing Russian BMPs and tanks.
However, Ukrainian drone reconnaissance already spotted the Russian motorcycle units as they prepared to assault, allowing Ukrainians to swarm the skies with FPV kamikaze drones. Striking first, Ukrainians were able to pick them off several at a time, killing over two-thirds of the riders within minutes. This likely led to a collapse of communication with the infantry component, preventing them from reporting the failed assault. Believing the assault had succeeded, Russian commanders sent in a battalion of BMPs to reinforce the non-existent positions, only for the vehicles to be destroyed by anti-tank mines, FPV drones, and artillery fire, zeroed in on the road.
This failed operation resulted in the reported loss of 21 Russian BMPs in just a few hours. Additionally, when including the failed motorcycle rush, Russians lost 96 motorcycles and a total of over 240 soldiers killed and wounded, while only approximately a third survived the assault.
Overall, the Russians attempted an assault to reclaim a highway intersection using over 150 motorcycles and dozens of armored vehicles. However, poor coordination and communication led to their defeat, with survivors scattered in the fields, and despite heavy casualties, they failed to gain any ground or achieve their goal of reaching the highway intersection.
The survivors will likely be forced to conduct meat assaults due to their proximity to Ukrainian lines, and the Russian inability to supply the remnants of the assault, stuck in forward positions. However, without any vehicle or armored support at all, these assaults will likely only result in even more losses.
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.
