Don's Weekly, 26 August 2024: Part 3
by Donald Hill
(…continued from Part 2…)
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Siversk
The Russians launched multiple small assaults from the east over several days and lost 4 MT-LB’s and a tank that was damaged. They didn’t gain any territory. Here is a 14 minute video with English subtitles. The narrator explains some details not observed in the video, such as when Russian sappers moved ahead of the assaults to remove mines, how a Russian drone was scouting the assault route, and how smoke obscured the vision of the ATGM crews.
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Bakhmut
Sizeable parts of the 11th VDV Brigade, reportedly some elements of the 98th VDV Brigade that used to be deployed in the Bakhmut area, have been transferred to Kursk. Yet another - this time VSRF - brigade is reportedly underway from the Bakhmut area in the same direction.
Arguably, Russia continued to assault across the Siversky Donets - Donbas Canal in small groups but didn’t gain any ground. In one assault, though, they cornered four Ukrainian soldiers and captured them.
A journalist interviewed former inmates of Ukrainian prisons who volunteered to fight. They have the same rights and freedom of movement as other soldiers and the officers and men respect each other. Brigades could send a recruiter to the prison and these men joined the 5th Assault Brigade because they wanted to attack the trenches, and most of them joined together because of their shared experience in the same prison. This unit had already been in close combat. One of them survived a bullet to the chest because of his body armor. The bonds between the members of the unit are strong.
When applying to serve, the brigade had to accept them: the ZSU is only accepting those that are fit and not too old. The 3rd Assault Brigade did not send a recruiter, but then, with their publicized success they have no problems attracting recruits. The 24th Mechanised Brigade is currently preparing another, similarly staffed unit.
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Toretsk
The Russians widened their advance between Pivnichne and Toretsk. They also were working on consolidating the territory between Nelipivka and Niu York when the 425th Battalion counterattacked and cut off the lead Russian elements near Nelipivka.
The outcome of that battle is not decided yet: it is a tenuous situation that may not last, but here is a 20 minute video with English subtitles that describes the attack.
There is a Ukrainian report that says an unnamed unit defending Niu York has leadership that has no idea of the situation, isn’t aware of gaps in the line, expends resources to gain one position without having anything left and then lies about it in reports to their superiors. According to Militaryland, the 100th and 53rd brigades are closest to Niu York. The 100th was a territorial defense unit that was recently converted to a regular army unit.
The 41st Brigade hunts Russians with drones.
Russians raise a flag in Zavitne.
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Pokrovsk-Avdiivka
This remains the area of biggest concern for Ukraine: certainly for its and Western public, probably for the GenStab-U and the ZSU’s Group Tavriya, too. Supported by heavy air strikes, continuous artillery shelling, and relentless UAV-strikes, the about 120,000-strong Russian Group Tsentr continues pushing in direction of Pokrovsk in complete disregard of its losses. Multiple ZSU troops serving there are reporting their own surprise at how indifferent to massive losses the Russians became: they shot away one motor-cycle-mounted assault group, and the next is already following; they shot that one away, and the next is already following… and so it goes the entire day… atop of that, they are all the time forced to switch positions because whoever remains in one place for too long, is near-certain to get obliterated - whether by UMPK glide-bombs or by UAVs…
Additionally, the Group Tesntr broadened its front by pushing south against ground that was difficult for Ukraine to hold. This put the ZSU under much pressure, and several battalions had to withdraw in order to avoid encirclement. It must be expected that this week Ukraine will likely withdraw from Yasnobrodivka, too.
On the north-western side of the Russian-occupied salient, the 151st Brigade, the unit we’re supporting by our donations, has held its ground at Hrodivka this week: but, the situation was critical at several points in time and space.
Pokrovsk had a pre-war population of 40,000 people. The town is now in range of the Russian artillery. The government has the ability to evacuate 1,000 people a day but only 500-600 people are leaving each day. In the past, significant numbers of civilians have remained in cities under moderate and heavy bombardment, such as Kherson and Bakhmut. There were still 3,000 people still in Avdiivka when most of the town was in ruins and they were forced to live in basements.
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Marinka
There were a few small-scale Russian assaults and they lost about six IFV/APC’s and one artillery piece, but the only gains Russia made was straightening up their front after cutting the road by Vodiane, the last week.
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Zaporizhzhia
Ukraine launched a small assault on Staromaiorske in which they lost a tank, but no territory changed hands. Russia did bombard the entire front every day last week with artillery, airstrikes and TOS thermobaric strikes.
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Kherson
Russian bombardments and drone strikes continued at an elevated rate and more civilians were killed and wounded.
A Ukrainian MiG-29 drops an AASM bomb on a command bunker in Nova Kakhovka and a Russian-occupied house.
The worst of all is a campaign of terror against the population of Kherson, run by the Russian UAV-operators. After killing and wounding over 100 civilians over the last week - in one day, Russian drone operators killed a policeman and continually attacked those who tried to remove the body from the car. Eleven other civilians were wounded, including an 18-month old baby.
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Black Sea
Snake Island is not permanently garrisoned by the ZSU, but the Russians bombed it probably to destroy some Ukrainian equipment that was being used remotely.
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(…to be continued…)
Butusov's video about the assault in Niu York is one of the most impressive videos I've watched of this war. He had all the opportunity to turn it into a full propaganda piece, but to his credit, he didn't.
What I believe is unique, not just in this war, is we had the opportunity to hear the viewpoints on how the situation developed from two captured Russian commanders. That's awfully difficult to get even when writing history books after the war is over, let alone in practically real-time.
Awe-inspiring journalistic work from Butusov and Skala battalion guys were no less impressive in their line of work. It was the first assault for the majority of them who talked to the camera and they seemed like veterans until they disclosed it was their first battle.
RE: Kherson (and elsewhere)
Good gracious! There seemingly is no end to the atrocities committed by those b@stards.