Attacking through Russia’s best drones, a Ukrainian column lost a precious M-1 tank—and potentially a lot of troops

Counterattacking along a notorious road of death between the village of Hryshyne and the Russian-occupied ruins of Pokrovsk in in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk Oblast on Tuesday, a mechanized column led by the Ukrainian 425th Assault Regiment blundered into mines, ran afoul of a roadside ditch and then got hammered by first-person-view drones from Russia's elite Rubicon Center.

The result: the Ukrainian column lost a precious M-1 tank, at least two other vehicles, and as many as a dozen troops. It was a high price to pay to transport a few surviving infantry a short distance to a partially surrounded Ukrainian position—and now tempers are flaring.

"Treating our people this way is a crime," wrote Serhii Sternenko, a fundraiser and advisor to the Ukrainian defense ministry. "And there must be accountability for it. What some units are doing to their people is no better than Russian practices. This has to stop."

The 425th Assault Regiment, one of three units equipped with Ukraine's 60 or so remaining American-made M-1s, objected to Sternenko's criticism. Despite evidence to the contrary, the 425th Assault Regiment insisted just two soldiers died in the Tuesday assault. But it conceded it lost four vehicles.

The mission was important, the 425th Assault Regiment claimed. "To support our fighters and destroy the advancing enemy, counterattacks must be conducted," the regiment stated. "Otherwise, the enemy could encircle some of our positions, and all personnel would perish without rotation, evacuation or reinforcement."

The Tuesday assault was a response to a recent Russian assault that resulted in the Russians capturing a position just outside the industrial outskirts of Pokrovsk, which fell to a yearlong Russian siege late last year. In finally capturing Pokrovsk, the Russian Center Group of Forces positioned itself for an eventual offensive toward the twin cities of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, 50 km to the north.

Ukrainian units, including the 425th Assault Regiment, are determined to block the march on Kramatorsk and Sloviansk before it can even begin. That means holding defensive positions north of Pokrovsk—and, if you buy the 425th Assault Regiment's argument, recapturing those positions when the Russians seize them.

Counter claim

The regiment claimed that, on Tuesday, it "conducted a successful counterattack on one of the key tactical objects in Pokrovsk that the enemy had captured."

"To accomplish the task and preserve the lives of the fighters, favorable weather conditions were utilized, personnel moved in armored vehicles with additional protection, reliable communications were established, aerial reconnaissance was conducted, and fire support was provided by drones, artillery, and a tank," the regiment explained.

But the favorable weather, a thick spring fog, didn't stop the Russians from seeding the Hryshyne-Pokrovsk road with mines, one of which immobilized the M-1 leading the Tuesday assault. And the same fog may have contributed to the disorientation as one Ukrainian crew accidentally tipped their vehicle into a ditch, stranding it. The Rubicon (also spelled Rubikon) Center's fiber-optic FPV drones barreled right through the fog to attack the remaining three vehicles, hitting two of them.

More about the assault troops

“Certainly not a Russian model”: Ukraine’s assault architect confronts accusations of meat-wave tactics

Yes, some infantry reached their objective outside Pokrovsk and later reported in to their headquarters. Was this modest reinforcement worth the cost? And could the 425th Assault Regiment do anything differently to improve its chances?

One observer identified what they viewed as a lack of preparation by the aggressive assault regiment. "The combat mission was carried out schematically" on the basis of standard templates "and without adequate preparation and reconnaissance," Thorkill surmised.

"The road should have been cleared of mines and [parked ambush drones] before the counterattack," Thorkill added. "I've seen that Ukrainians often use Vampire [bomber] drones for this, which methodically drop bombs on successive sections of the road, thereby de-mining it. Clearly, this was not done here. Adding a mine plow to the tank could have helped, as well."

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