Don's Weekly, 5 August 2024: Part 1

by Donald Hill

Hello everybody!

You and Don have my apology: I’m very sorry for deft delay with releasing his newest weekly review. Few unplanned things (including so many photos of PSU’s F-16s) came in between.

Therefore, let me not waste your time and go straight to Don’s story.

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Northern Kharkiv

Russian air strikes of the last week were heavy but there was no noticeable change in territory in Vovchansk. Ukraine did try to assault the eastern perimeter of the aggregate plant but had to withdraw under heavy shelling. The image below is of Ukrainians using the road crossing the Vovchansk river 300 meters from the western side of the aggregate plant. They were not worried about Russian small arms fire.

There were no changes in Hlyboke.

A Russian grandfather inside the ‘citadel’ said he’s the last in his unit out of 300, and that of the 30 replacements sent, only 10 are left. He says the flies are thick because of all the bodies. (His location on the map is in the northern part of the ‘citadel’, where the 3 Ukrainian drones attacked. This triangle has a green outline).

The top video shows a TOS thermobaric attack on Vovchansk in the center of the city.

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Western Luhansk

There were a lot of attacks but little to no territory changed hands. The 3rd Assault Brigade conducted an attack but it was difficult to geolocate how far they advanced and the initial portion of their attack they were clearing trenches that had already been marked as being under Ukrainian control.

2.5 km northwest of Synkivka, the bottom video shows a Russian thermobaric attack on Ukrainian defenses in the forest.

Petropavlivka is hit by two Russian bombs.

In July 2023, the Russians crossed the Zherebets River and advanced 3-5 km across a 15 km front before being pushed back, but they still retained a 2 km foothold on the west side of the river. Ukrainian intelligence indicated that a force of 10,000 Russians intended to push towards Borova from this foothold and the 3rd Assault Brigade was sent to disrupt this assault.

The 3rd conducted an active defense, meaning they didn’t sit in their trenches and shoot Russians as they approached. They used drones to find and destroy Russians in the front line and rear areas before they could build up and organize an attack force. Many brigades do that, but the 3rd went one step further and conducted spoiling attacks, meaning they conducted small scale assaults to eliminate Russian units in forward positions. Sometimes they took and secured a treeline or trench. Sometimes they withdrew again. Territorial gain was not necessarily the objective. Disrupting Russian operations was the objective. If the Russians are reacting to the 3rd Brigade’s actions then they are not focusing on advancing.

It is possible that their series of small attacks may create conditions to push the Russians back to the Zherebets River at some time in the future. It is a limited objective that is within their capability to achieve. But much depends on the Russian actions and the status of the friendly units to the 3rd Brigade’s left and right. The brigade can do this because of their leadership, training, and a fully staffed unit that is equipped.

This 18 minute video shows a significant assault by the 3rd Brigade. Creating the video is an important part of their efforts to sustain their unit with donations and replacements. People want to donate to and join a unit with a proven track record.

The 3rd Brigade knew where at least some mines and Russian positions were from previous operations. A pair of Ukrainian tanks fire on the known positions and creates a smoke screen for the infantry by spraying diesel fuel into its exhaust system. As the infantry moves out, clearing an empty trench, they’re supported by a drone. It spots two heat signatures and they drop explosives on them. The two Russians were an observation post and one of them ran back to report the Ukrainian advance.

A Ukrainian is wounded in both legs. This not only reduces the assault force by the wounded man but also by the two that need to take him to the rear. The commander tells the lead group to take him to the second group and let them tend to his wounds. The two that brought the wounded back are to return to the first group and take a member of the second group with them as a replacement. It’s difficult to drag a wounded man by his hands and feet in a shallow trench when the enemy is firing. Unlike Russian assaults, the 3rd Brigade supports their assaulting units with continuous reconnaissance with drones, supporting fires from drones, artillery/mortars and occasional direct fire from tanks and IFV/APCs. All of this is coordinated through effective communication systems.

The two white specks in the yellow circle on the left are the heat signatures of a Russian machine gun crew as seen through an IR camera. The yellow circle on the right is the same view through a standard camera that detects visible light waves.

The unit is pinned down by a Russian machine gun. With their communication unjammed, the infantry report it and the drone locates the position. Most coordinates are supplied by drones in this war, not the infantry. A mortar round is fired accurately and the Russians run away. Ukraine’s first group continues its advance, passing (blurred) Russian casualties and abandoned weapons. When and how they were killed isn’t known, but it wasn’t by this unit.

The Ukrainians detected a command post, either through electronic emissions or observations by drones. They sent a tank to fire three rounds on the position. It is unknown how many, if any, Russians were killed or wounded, but intercepted communications from other Russians stated that they no longer had communications with the command post. It is likely that the personnel and/or equipment were hit by the tank fire. This disrupted Russia’s ability to coordinate their defensive operations.

The Ukrainian command post intercepted more Russian communication that indicated they were preparing for a counterattack. The commander told each unit where to move, which way they should orient their weapons and directed the squad (with the camera) to deploy into a vacant treeline with a T-intersection before the Russians re-occupy it. While crossing the field, a Russian 120 mm mortar engages them. The cameraman is hit in the leg by something, maybe debris from a mortar blast, but is able to function. The commander tells them to spread out so a single 120 mm shell won’t hit them all.

The yellow circles are Russian infantry. The green circle is an incoming mortar round still hot from firing and traveling through the air, allowing the IR camera to detect it.

They take cover in a trench and discover a radio that the retreating Russians left behind. They listen as the Russians try to organize their forces. A Ukrainian that spoke Russian used the radio to tell them that wounded Russians were crossing the field to their position. Once across, they engaged the Russians and the Ukrainian soldier yelled out in Russian again to confuse them. The commander then tells the mortar team to engage the Russian defenses further down the treeline. Between the mortars on one end and the small assault team on the other end, the Russian defenses collapse.When the command post said the Russians were running from 33 to 32, those were control points written on a map to make communication easier. Drones hunt down retreating Russians.

One member of the Ukrainian assault team was lightly wounded but is still able to function and was in good spirits. Low on ammo, and with minor wounds, their day was over and they were sent to the rear with at least three prisoners captured by someone else. Another unit will take their place in the line.

(…to be continued…)