The Russian command may be prioritizing the Avdiyivka area in Donetsk region, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said in a report on March 31. In recent days, Ukrainian troops repelled the largest Russian mechanized assault since autumn 2023 that took place near the Russian-seized village of Tonenke west of Avdiyivka, the report reads.
Ukrainian forces appear to have repelled a Russian battalion-sized mechanized assault near Avdiivka, Donetsk Oblast, on March 30 — the first battalion-sized mechanized assault since Russian forces began the campaign to seize Avdiivka in late October 2023. A Ukrainian serviceman [who goes by the name Kriegsforscher on X] reported on March 31 that Russian forces, including elements of the Russian 6th Tank Regiment (90th Tank Division, Central Military District [CMD]), committed 36 tanks and 12 BMP infantry fighting vehicles (IFV) to a large-mechanized assault near Tonenke on March 30.
Geolocated imagery published on March 31 shows a large number of destroyed and damaged Russian armored vehicles and tanks along a road northwest of Tonenke (west of Avdiivka), ISW said. The Ukrainian serviceman stated that Ukrainian forces destroyed 12 Russian tanks and eight IFVs during the assault and noted that the frontal assault failed to breakthrough the Ukrainian line. This appears to be the first report of any elements of the 90th Tank Division participating in assaults following the Russian seizure of Avdiivka and ISW previously assessed that elements of the 90th Tank Division, alongside other Russian units and formations, likely represent a sizeable uncommitted operational reserve that the Russian military command can commit to continue and intensify efforts to push west of Avdiivka. The elements of the 6th Tank Regiment appear to have failed in their March 30 attack near Tonenke, however, suggesting that elements of Russia’s uncommitted operational reserve near Avdiivka may be too degraded or otherwise unable to lead further Russian advances westward in the short term.
The scale of the Russian mechanized assault on March 30 is significant. Russian forces have not conducted a mechanized assault this large since the beginning of the Russian localized offensive effort to seize Avdiivka in late October 2023, when Ukrainian forces reportedly destroyed almost 50 Russian tanks and over 100 armored vehicles on October 19-20, 2023. [An X user who goes by the name Kriegsforscher said it was “the biggest amount of armour that was used in one charge since the beginning of the war.”] Ukraine’s ability to defend against the March 30 assault, particularly near Avdiivka where Ukrainian forces have been forced to quickly withdraw to new, defensive positions following the loss of the settlement, is a positive indicator for Ukraine’s ability to defend against future large-scale Russian assaults and the expected summer 2024 Russian offensive operation, ISW said. Ukrainian officials, justifiably so, continue to warn about Ukraine’s ability to defend against the expected summer Russian offensive effort in the face of ammunition shortages, manpower limitations, and delayed Western assistance. Ukrainian forces may have had to expend a significant amount of material to defend against the Russian assault near Tonenke, highlighting Russia’s ability to conduct assaults that force Ukraine to expend outsized portions of its already limited material and manpower reserves to defend against --->READ MORE HERE
Ukraine has fought off 36 Russian tanks in the western Donetsk region, according to a think tank, in what is believed to have been one of Moscow’s biggest armoured vehicle assaults of the war.
Citing a Ukrainian serviceman, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said Kyiv’s forces repelled 36 tanks and 12 BMP infantry fighting vehicles as part of a Russian battalion-sized mechanised assault near the key town of Avdiivka in Donetsk Oblast on Saturday.
The ISW added that geolocated imagery shows a large number of destroyed and damaged Russian armored vehicles and tanks, with the Ukrainian serviceman reporting that Moscow lost at least 20 in the failed attack.
It comes as Kyiv’s military administration reported five hypersonic Zircon missiles are among the 180 weapons Russia has fired at the Ukrainian capital city since the start of this year.
Meanwhile, Russian shelling from Kharkiv to Lviv killed five people across Ukraine on Sunday.
Vladimir Putin’s forces launched 23 missile attacks and 61 airstrikes, as well as 41 attacks from multiple-launch rocket systems, Ukraine’s General Staff of the Armed Forces said. It said a total of 49 combat encounters took place along the frontline. --->READ MORE HEREFollow links below to +++++relevant+++++ and related stories:
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