Don's Weekly, 30 September 2024: Part 2

by Donald Hill

(….continued from Part 1…)

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Kharkiv

The PSU dropped four bombs on a museum in Vovchansk that Russians had fortified. There’s written reports that Ukraine is beginning to push Russia out of Vovchansk but the details on where or how far were not provided.

There were about 80 Russians in the aggregate plant in Vovchansk when Ukrainian special forces assaulted it a little more than a week ago. About 20 Russians were taken captive and the rest were killed. From June until September, the Russian garrison was isolated. Attempts to break through with infantry and armored vehicles would sometimes bring ammo, food and water at a high cost in casualties, but they otherwise survived on deliveries from drones. The Russian wounded suffered from lack of medical care. With the aggregate plant’s heavily damaged tall buildings now in the hands of Ukraine, movement and logistics is now easier. The buildings themselves are of little use to Ukraine due to constant Russian bombing. There has been at least 14 airstrikes and three thermobaric artillery attacks caught on video last week.

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Western Luhansk

The 92nd and 77th brigades report that a column of over 50 Russian vehicles were engaged near the village of Pishchane and that they damaged or destroyed 23 Russian vehicles. The Russians also bombed the same bridge near Osynovo, to the northwest of Pishchane. For all those losses, they did not gain any territory.

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Terny

The only territory that changed hands was the 700 x 500 meters that Russia grabbed on the western side of Nevske.

The Russians were annoyed that the 63rd Brigade were destroying their vehicles and killing their soldiers, so they decided to threaten them over the radio.

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Bakhmut

North of Bakhmut, the 30th Brigade uses a tank at close range to wipe out an isolated Russian position, allowing it to advance a little more than a square kilometer, or one field.

There was another video compilation released of Russian reconnaissance drones being eliminated in the Bakhmut area.

The location of the Russian reconnaissance drones that were destroyed.

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A video was published showing the situation in the canal district of Chasiv Yar back in June.

In the last few weeks of Ukrainian control over the canal district, armored vehicles were only used to bring supplies and take out the wounded, but it was risky because of drones. The infantry that rotated in and out would walk on foot because it was less dangerous. They’d spend two weeks at a time in the canal district, eating canned food that was stored earlier and drinking just a sip of water a day. Reporters walked 1500 meters into the canal district in the edited video and they had to constantly seek cover from drones. Halfway into their journey, they heard the cluster bomb attack at the location of where the vehicle dropped them off. Russian drones flew every half hour. If they saw a target of opportunity, they attacked it. Otherwise, they attacked a target that was already identified. Ukrainian drones flew straight for targets that had been identified. They were always listening for the distant buzz of the drone. One time, it was just the noise of a fly.

In the 1500 meter walk, there was a lot of waiting and hoping that the different Russian drones overhead didn’t see them.

On their way out of the canal district, the location of where they were minutes ago was attacked, maybe because of them or maybe because someone else was spotted. The reporter said, “I think God loves us.” Her colleague responded, “You, at least.”

The remnants of a neighborhood where people once lived and those left behind still do.

The reporter talked to an officer of the 24th Brigade that relieved the 41st and asked how the rotation went. The response about the collapse of Niu York was edited out. He did mention that the defensive positions they inherited in the canal district were only partly prepared or not at all, so they had to construct them as they occupied them. They knew they wouldn’t be able to hold out in the canal district, especially because they had to cross the canal to supply and rotate forces, but it was necessary to prepare the defenses on the western side of the canal that previously did not exist. They use the term “fun” a lot while smiling. The full sentence is, “We’re all fucked, but it’s going to be fun.”

Even if you minimize the time spent in the open, there’s still a good chance of being seen. On the right, they look back at where they were just minutes ago.

They discussed the trenches that were dug in the open. The soldiers said they were useless because they provided no overhead protection from the drones. One said he believed they only dug where it was easy for the tractors to dig without regard to how useful the position was. This corresponds to the experiences of the 68th Brigade in the Pokrovsk region that said many of the prepared positions were useless or even beneficial to the enemy.

Mortar fire explodes as a Ukrainian vehicle crosses the canal about three months ago. Useless fighting positions dug in the open are visible to the left.

They didn’t describe their Russian opponents as strong, but as well-trained. When they advanced, they dug in quickly and prepared good positions. There were times when the Ukrainians destroyed a position and the logs that provided overhead cover were scattered by day’s end. In the morning, the position was intact again because the Russians worked on it all night.

On the left: “Every loss of a fighter, a loss of life, it was your decision. Your command may or may not have been correct, but you blame yourself for every loss of a fighter.” On the right: “Thank God, we are alive, healthy and ready to continue…There is no option. It’s either us or them.”

Now that they are on the western side of the canal, the fighting is hard, dangerous and constant, but a lot easier now that they don’t have to cross the canal. And they much prefer fighting in the woods than in the unstable and weakened concrete buildings that could fall at any time. Still, they have to always remain alert. If they fail to detect a Russian assault, it could all fall apart in a short time.

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(….to be continued…)