Ukrainian forces appear to have fought back a Russian “battalion-sized” armored assault, destroying a slew of Russian tanks and vehicles close to the captured eastern city of Avdiivka.
Russia captured the strategic city of Avdiivka in mid-February, and fighting has raged west of the settlement in the weeks since. Moscow has claimed a string of villages since taking control of Avdiivka, sparking concerns among Kyiv’s backers over whether Ukraine can successfully halt Russia’s advance westward.
A Ukrainian open-source intelligence account reported on Sunday that Ukraine had repelled a large-scale attack of 36 Russian tanks and 12 infantry fighting vehicles around the village of Tonenke, directly west of Avdiivka, on Saturday. Kyiv’s fighters took out 12 tanks and eight of the BMP infantry fighting vehicles, according to the account.
Newsweek has reached out to the Russian Defense Ministry for comment via email.
This looks to be Russia’s “first battalion-sized mechanized assault” since Moscow launched its onslaught on Avdiivka in October 2023, according to the U.S. think tank, the Institute for the Study of War
In the initial weeks of attacks on Avdiivka, which had been a Ukrainian stronghold, Russia lost many of its tanks and armored vehicles. During the height of the fighting, Ukraine shared footage appearing to show Russian military vehicles littering the fields around Avdiivka. Russia then switched to infantry-led attacks to “conserve armored vehicles following the first two waves of assaults on the settlement,” the ISW evaluated in mid-December.
Fighting around Tonenke over the weekend is a “positive indicator for Ukraine’s ability to defend against future large-scale Russian assaults and the expected summer 2024 Russian offensive operation,” the ISW think tank said on Sunday.
Ukrainian officials have warned that Russia is gearing up for a renewed offensive on Ukrainian defenses in the coming warmer months. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said Moscow will mount a new effort as early as May, into the summer months.
Kyiv has also suggested delays in Western aid to its frontlines are hampering Ukraine’s ability to defend against Russian attacks and prevent Moscow’s advances.
“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,” the ISW said.
Fighting has been heavy along the eastern frontlines in Donetsk, long considered a focus for Russia. But Moscow has also attacked further north, closer to the Kharkiv city of Kupiansk, as well as maintaining fighting in the south of the war-torn country.
“The Russian military command’s willingness to commit a battalion’s worth of tanks to an attack near Avdiivka indicates that this assault was a priority effort,” the ISW said.
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