Kyiv’s pilots have repeatedly hit Russian infantry battling to capture the northern town of Vovchansk with modern precision-guided bombs sent by Western allies, in a rare break from longstanding Ukrainian Air Force tactics of avoiding frontline battles and air space usually dominated by the Russian Air Force.
Combat video and both Ukrainian and Russian milbloggers confirmed at least eight laser- or GPS-guided munitions launched by Ukrainian strike aircraft hitting known Russian positions on the property of a parts machining factory in the Kharkiv region town in two separate attacks.
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Most reports identified the munitions as GBU-39B bombs, a “small diameter” glide bomb designed by the US aerospace giant Boeing to fly up to 111 km and hit within one meter of an intended target. Some reports identified the weapon as an ASSM HAMMER, a France-made glider bomb similar to the GBU-39B. A few sources said the weapon was a JDAMS, an older technology “bomb kit” developed by the US to convert an unguided bomb into a guided bomb.
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According to open-source reports, some Russian soldiers holding positions on the premises of the Vovchansk Aggregate Factory are effectively cut off and possibly surrounded. Accounts have varied widely as to how many Kremlin troops have been isolated and the degree to which Ukrainian forces can maintain the siege. Ukrainian and some independent sources have variously estimated the Russian force at between a few dozen to as many as 400 men.
As in many urban battles in the Russo-Ukrainian war, infantry combat in Vovchansk has been most intense around the locality’s tallest and most strongly built structures, often an industrial site with towers and high-rise buildings.
The usually reliable DeepState, a pro-Ukraine military information platform, said Russian forces attacking Vovchansk in mid-May were cut off by June 1 following partial encirclement by Ukrainian forces, placing Russian supply lines to the plant under heavy fire from Ukrainian machine guns, artillery and drones.
Russian commanders are per DeepState and other information platforms using heavy drones to supply troops caught in the pocket, and launching infantry reinforcements. At least 20 Russian soldiers managed to enter the site from June 6-14, but they took heavy losses in transit, reports said.
A Ukrainian strike drone group associated with the 57th Motorized Infantry Brigade called Murchiki (Ukrainian: Мурчики, roughly Fur Balls or Kitty Cats) recorded the guided bomb strikes with an observation aircraft and said Russian forces were cut off but still holding in buildings in the southwestern corner of the factory. Kyiv Post researchers geo-located both the 57th Brigade and Murchiki Strike Group to the Kharkiv sector, and the video to the Aggregate Factory.
The Austro-US military analytical team Tom Cooper and Donald Hill in a June 17 situation update wrote in part: “The most severe fighting is in Vovchansk. After one Russian attack, a Ukrainian counterattack went better than expected, pushing back the Russians a couple blocks and isolating pockets of Russian troops in larger buildings, two of which were bombed by the Ukrainian air force. There are reports that 200-400 Russian troops are trapped in the Vovchansk Aggregate Plant, which was also bombed…their supplies in ammunition, food and water are limited. Since Russian assaults are being stopped and the Ukrainians are inside the town in numbers, it is unlikely that the trapped Russians will be able to break out.”
Russian sources widely confirmed Ukrainian use of precision-guided bombs and heavy fighting around Vovchansk and the Aggregate Plant. Most have acknowledged local Ukrainian infantry counterattacks, but all remained effectively silent on Ukrainian claims of dozens and possibly hundreds of Russian soldiers cut off inside the town.
Aleksei Zhivov, author of the popular pro-Russia ZhivivZ Telegram channel, told his 100,000-plus followers the Vovchansk battle is intense but Russian troops are making poor progress. The Kremlin plan to re-invade Ukraine has stalled in the face of heavy Kyiv firepower, now also delivered by air, he complained.
“Regarding Vovchansk, in the Kharkiv direction, one of the most intense battles of the SVO (Russo-Ukrainian War) is taking place. It can be compared to Bakhmut and Avdiivka… the bad news is that the enemy has many guided HAMMER bombs, which also pose a serious problem. It is not easy to fight with them. I keep waiting to hear, that the (Kremlin’s stalled) maneuvers around Kharkiv are actually a brilliant plan of the General Staff (in Moscow) for a diversion,” Zhivov griped in a Monday post.
As the now three-week-old Vovchansk battle has progressed Ukrainian units and civilian information platforms have repeatedly reported local counterattacks had captured Kremlin troops and equipment. One of the most significant claims, first made on Wednesday, June 12 credited a Kyiv-raised brigade deployed to that sector with taking at least 24 Russian soldiers prisoner.
The regional Telegram channel, Onlayn Vovchansk, on Monday posted images and video of fighters from an unidentified Ukrainian unit taking at least two Russian soldiers prisoner and driving a captured T-72 tank heavily modified with “turtle” after-market armor back to friendly lines. Major Ukrainian media authenticated the images.
Kyiv Post research concluded the tank was a T-62 captured by 22nd Mechanized Infantry Brigade in the Chasiv Yar sector.
A video released by the 36th Marine Brigade, another formation according to official statements operating in the Vovchansk sector, showed Ukrainian Marines taking a Russian soldier captive following a counterattack. Ukraine’s army central command confirmed the capture.
Official Kremlin sources have repeatedly claimed Ukrainian air attacks are ineffective due to Russia’s alleged near-total dominance of air space over Ukraine and crushing damage to tiny Ukraine’s Air Force. A Friday Russian Defense Ministry statement said that since the start of the war, Kyiv has lost 613 military aircraft of all types.
This latest Kremlin estimate of total Ukrainian combat aircraft losses would mean Russian forces since the full-scale invasion have three times over destroyed every single aircraft in the Ukrainian Air Force – which at the moment of Russia’s invasion numbered about 160 planes.
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