An armored assault by Moscow’s forces in Kupyansk descended into chaos last week due to a mix of fierce Ukrainian resistance and what appears to be mass Russian confusion.
Drone footage of the attack on the village of Synkivka begins with a large column of Russian armored vehicles winding its way through a snowy landscape.
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As artillery shells begin to fall nearby, a mine-clearing vehicle at the front of the column makes a hasty retreat leaving the others to make their way into the village.
When they arrive at a building, the vehicles bunch together and Russian troops dismount and the chaos begins.
A Ukrainian drone takes advantage of the closely-packed Russians, dropping bombs among them before flying away.
As the armored vehicles move back, one unfortunate soldier tries to dismount but snags something and is dragged along the road. Eventually he is released, shakes himself off and takes cover in a nearby building only to come under withering machinegun fire.
Further up the road, three other vehicles stop and some of the crew can be seen swiftly retreating on foot.
Meanwhile back at the building near their drop off point, Russian soldiers come within metres of defending Ukrainian troops.
The video stops shortly after a grenade goes off among them.
While the exact date of the footage is now known, the Institute for the Study of War in its latest report said Russian forces had in recent days made “marginal gains” in the north of Synkivka and “continued positional engagements” near the village.
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Last week Col.-Gen. Oleksandr Syrsky, commander of the Armed Forces Ukraine’s (AFU) ground forces, reported via his Telegram that the fiercest battles are ongoing in the Kupyansk, Lyman, and Bakhmut sectors.
Syrsky is the general credited for Ukraine’s stunning counteroffensive last year, which had brought the northeastern Ukrainian towns Kupyansk and Lyman back under AFU control.
According to the commander, the Russians are concentrating their main efforts around Bakhmut and are using the most combat-capable units of the landing forces, the marines, and the “Storm Z” and “Storm V” units formed of convicts to conduct assault operations.
Russia’s goal in this direction is an offensive on the settlement of Chasiv Yar, then on Kostyantynivka, Druzhkivka, Slovyansk, Kramatorsk, with further access to the borders of the Donetsk region.
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