Don's Weekly, 2 September 2024: Part 2

by Donald Hill

(…continued from Part 1…)

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Kharkiv

There were no territorial changes but Russia did try to reach the aggregate plant with a small column of vehicles. They lost a BMP, 3 MT-LBs, and a Desertcross 1000-3.

Near Vovchansk, a drone destroys a Russian anti-aircraft gun. The 71st Brigade said they killed or wounded 1,200 Russians in their sector in August. Six UMPK glide-bombs were dropped on Ukrainian positions in Vovchansk. Russian attacks on positions just east of Vovchansk.

At Hlyboke, the 92nd posted a compilation of drone strikes on Russian infantry. (Blood is visible).

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Western Luhansk

Russian progress around Pischane had been very slow for about six months, but in the last three weeks Ukraine lost control of the situation. Given the quality of Russian troops further south, it’s possible the Russians could also be pushing forward there - wouldn’t it be for the presence of the 3rd Brigade.

A Russian was able to make it into Synkivka with a flag by himself. He then quickly departed. I suppose it has some similarities to counting coup.

Russians use flashlights on the front line near Pischane and draw fire.

The video from the 3rd Assault Brigade’s attack from two weeks ago came out. They came off the APC firing their weapons to force the enemy down into their trenches, but had to be sure they didn’t fire on friendly units just a short distance away. Then they form a line and advance through the fortifications. They find a radio on a body (not graphic though), and interrogate a wounded prisoner. There’s gas in the air but not thick enough to see on the video. They are constantly checking on each other’s status to make sure they are ok. The alarm goes out when a drone is spotted - but it’s one of their own.

While holding their position and occupying enemy fortifications, an enemy mortar shell lands in a bunker just before the cameraman was going to enter it. There was a near miss on the bunker several were occupying, and they all left it with the dust still stirred up by the explosion. At night, they encounter at least one enemy soldier and are told to flank him and cut him off. Some of the soldiers they were fighting were Spetsnaz (24th Spetsnaz Brigade, a better part of which was meanwhile re-deployed to Kursk) that specialize in reconnaissance. They gained two square kilometers of ground and destroyed a battalion defensive position, claiming 300 enemy casualties.

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Siversk

For three weeks now Russia made no progress on the southern edge of the pocket, and, once again, made no progress in the east. The bombardments have largely subsided, as well.

Drones from the 54th Brigade located a Russian training ground and provided the coordinates for two GMLRS rockets that reportedly caused 30 casualties.

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Bakhmut

Chasiv Yar continues to be bombarded, and a contact told Andrew Perpetua that Russia still attacks across the canal and still suffers heavy casualties.

To the north of Bakhmut, some Russians have been using thermal cloaks to hide their heat signature from drones using thermal imaging devices. As seen in this video here, they do a good job of blocking the thermal image. In this case, too good, because the vegetation was warm and the cooler cloaks stood out. And when they pulled their cloaks off, their body’s thermal signature was warmer than the vegetation, so they were still easy to identify.

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Toretsk

Russia is slowly pushing their way into Toretsk: the 32nd Mech is fighting well there, but Andrew Perpetua was told that Ukrainian casualties are relatively heavy. Russia made no progress in Niu York but it’s unclear if the Russians that were cut off were eliminated, retreated or are still holding out.

The 425th Skala Battalion clears a building with support from a Bradley.

The 28th Brigade claimed an Su-25: the jet was hit by either a MANPAD or a short-range SAM and fell to the ground. No ejection of the pilot was observed.

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Pokrovsk-Avdiivka

Russia’s push towards Pokrovsk was largely limited to taking Novohrodivka. But the advances towards Memryk and Karlivka, up to 7 km at some locations, puts a tremendous amount of pressure on 8 square kilometers of Ukrainian positions bordered by Krasnohorivka and Nevelske, further south.

A company commander described the pattern: “This is much like the far southern Avdiivka front & Pervomaiske & Neveleske. They’d do this 2 or 3 times a day and they did this for 2 months before reverting to small groups running through fields or rubble with artillery support and no vehicles. Small groups that didn’t get wiped would wait for the next group and so on and so on and once they had a squad or two that forward element would push while they’d send more waves from the rear to push up to the survivors position. Anyone (Russian) injured typically didn’t make it back to friendly lines as they wouldn’t send litter teams up to pull them out. We’d sit there on drones and watch dudes crawl for hours before eating one of their own bullets, grenades and sometimes one of our drones. Literally wave tactics. Which are effective at extreme costs to manpower.”

An Russian armored column was sent to attack positions of the 59th Brigade in the Nevelske area - and promptly lost 12 vehicles.

The ZSU is meanwhile known to have re-deployed 2,000 troops of the 15th NG Kara-Dag Brigade to the Pokrovsk sector.

About three weeks ago, an IFV and M113 of the 14th Assault Brigade drove through Russian positions to retrieve the surrounded and wounded Ukrainian soldiers on the western edge of Ivanivka. The National Guardsmen then drove through the Russian positions again to safety.

"In the Pokrovsk direction, the reserves of enemy infantry exceed the reserves in the Bakhmut direction during active offensive operations in the winter of 2023. As you can see, the Russians have no limits, the biggest mistake was to bet on the destruction of as many Russian infantry as possible and to neglect the development of defensive fortifications," Ukrainian serviceman Osman from the 24th Aidar battalion reports.

Due to ongoing evacuation, Pokrovk’s population of 62,000 dropped to 36,000. Except for four hours in the late morning and afternoon, there is a curfew. Grocery stores are closed. People are leaving at a slower rate than the government wants - and demand them to do. Those that left have no plans to return. They know Russia bombards everything it can reach and pulverises every place it enters.

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Mariinka

Russia took control over most of Kostiantynivka, and - after seven months of bitter grinding - seized Novomykhailivka. It looks like it will take them a little more than four months to take Kostiantynivka.

There were minor gains around Vodiane, but in a new sector Russia gained three kilometers west of Pavlivka.

Of the 17 Russian armored vehicles that set out to attack Heorhiivka, 13 were destroyed by artillery, drones, ATGMs and mines. 4 returned to Russian lines.

After nearly two years of defending the town, the 72nd Mechanised has been withdrawn from Vuhledar: upon learning about replacement of this unit by a brigade that’s new into this area, yesterday, 1 September in the morning, the Russians promptly hit the place with a massive artillery barrage and launched a massive attack. The outcome of the same is not yet clear.

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Mariupol

There have been multiple train derailments in Russia and the occupied territories over the last couple of years. Last week, Atesh claimed responsibility for sabotaging the rail line east of Mariupol and promised more in the future.

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Kherson

A video of Russia firing rockets - not into a field of Ukrainian positions, but into a residential area of Kherson.

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Crimea

A Pantsir air defense system on an island of the Kerch bridge.

In Kirovske, there were three explosions near the local airport and one near the rail station. There was also an explosion in Dzhankoy, a key railway crossroads and a major military base.

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(…to be continued…)