This is when Vladimir Putin’s forces were humiliated when one of his largest recent attacks in his war against Ukraine ended in significant losses.
The Russian leader had ordered his troops to capture more territory in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, but the advance at Kurakhove led to massive death and destruction.
The failed attack left 40 attackers dead and 37 wounded.
Russia is conducting intensive attacks on multiple parts of the Eastern Front, but a victory for Ukraine would see troops repel 29 attacks in Kurakhove alone, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Dmytro Hutsuliak, revealed in his latest update.
Ukrainian paratroopers destroyed six Russian tanks and seven advancing armored vehicles when they were hit by kamikaze drones, the report said.
Russia suffered a crushing defeat in an attack in the Kurakhove area of the Donetsk region, losing six tanks, seven infantry armored personnel carriers and twelve military motorcycles
Ukrainian paratroopers destroyed six Russian tanks and seven advancing armored vehicles when they were hit by kamikaze drones
Ukraine’s 79th Air Assault Brigade called the Russian advance “one of the biggest attacks of the war”
The Russian assault group was also targeted by anti-tank guns, according to the Ukrainian 79th Air Assault Brigade, also known as the Tauride Brigade.
The Russian military launched the attack from several directions simultaneously early Wednesday morning, the brigade said, sharing footage of the attack.
The brutal attack reportedly involved 57 armored vehicles, 11 tanks, 12 motorcycles and 200 assault vehicles.
The Ukrainian brigade had spotted the Russian equipment in advance and reacted furiously to the Moscow troops by conducting incessant artillery fire.
According to reports, the Russians also fell into mines placed by Ukrainian sappers.
“As a result of the battle, our paratroopers shot down six tanks and seven armored personnel carriers with infantry,” the brigade’s statement said.
‘All 12 engines burned out.
‘The Russians suffered enormous losses in manpower: 40 crew members were killed and another 37 were wounded.’
The significant losses come after British Army Chief General Sir Roly Walker warned yesterday that if Russia continues to attack Ukraine, it will take five years for Russian forces to fully capture at least four regions, costing 1.8 million soldiers, both dead and wounded.
Walker was referring to the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk and to Kherson and Zaporizhia in the south.
They are already partially under Russian control, after more than two and a half years of fighting and more than half a million casualties.
The Russians fell into mines placed by Ukrainian sappers
The Russians used 11 tanks and 45 armored fighting vehicles plus one Terminator tank support fighting vehicle in the attack
The statement from the Ukrainian Tauride Brigade continued: “After knocking out the first tanks and armored vehicles, other vehicles rushed to leave the battlefield. Drone operators finished off the infantry as they ran.”
The brigade called the Russian advance “one of the greatest attacks of the war.”
The Russians used 11 tanks and 45 armored vehicles plus one Terminator tank support vehicle.
“The rest of the equipment fled the battlefield,” the statement said.
According to Hutsuliak, the Ukrainian air force, as well as rocket and artillery units, carried out 13 strikes on enemy manpower clusters over the past 24 hours and hit a checkpoint, an artillery system, two anti-aircraft missile systems and a radar.
The brutal attack comes after the Kremlin said it was open to negotiations with Ukraine on ending the war, in what Moscow calls a special military operation.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Wednesday during a visit to China that Kiev is also ready to talk to Russia, provided that Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity are fully respected. However, he said that Ukraine has not seen any signs of this yet.
Asked Thursday whether Russia is ready to hold talks with Ukraine as long as President Volodymyr Zelensky is in power, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters: “Russia is generally open to a negotiation process.
“But first we need to understand to what extent the Ukrainian side is prepared for this and to what extent the Ukrainian side has permission for this from its leaders.”
Putin said in June that Russia would end the war in Ukraine, but only if Kiev gave up its NATO ambitions.