150 Russians Attacked in Southern Donetsk, Mostly on Motorcycles. Almost All of Them Were Killed or Wounded.
Ukrainian mines, drones and artillery repulsed two days of assaults.
A large Russian force attacked positions held by the Ukrainian army’s 31st Mechanized Brigade in southern Donetsk Oblast on Saturday and Sunday. A very large Russian force.
But it mostly rode on motorcycles. And like previous bike assaults, it came to a very bad end in the mine-seeded, drone-patrolled no-man’s-land around the village of Vil’ne Pole. (See the video below.)
“The enemy, with a force of more than 150 personnel, using armored personnel carriers and motorcycles, attempted to storm our forward positions from several directions,” the 31st Mechanized Brigade reported.
“Contact was made with our forward positions. The 31st Infantry [sic] Brigade and attached units, joining forces, courageously and professionally repulsed the enemy. The assault choked, the occupiers did not achieve success.”
Mines slowed the Russians. Drones and artillery, some firing cluster shells, defeated them. The survivors or reinforcements tried again the following morning. “Several attempts were made to penetrate Ukrainian positions using motorized vehicles, which were neutralized, and attempts to advance by small groups on foot were detected,” The 31st Mechanized Brigade claimed.
The brigade referred to “attempts by the enemy to surrender” but, ominously, did not confirm it actually took any prisoners.
The brigade reported heavy Russian losses: 90 infantry killed, 50 wounded, 70 motorcycles and 60 other vehicles and heavy equipment destroyed. A similar Russian assault in the same area on April 14 ended the same way, with 20 bikes and 20 other vehicles knocked out.
De-mechanized brigades
Unarmored vehicles now account for 90 percent of Russian losses along the front line of Russia’s 39-month wider war on Ukraine—down from just 25 percent a year ago.
For every tank or BMP fighting vehicle Russian regiments lose—and to be clear, they still lose hundreds of them every month—the same regiments write off nine all-terrain vehicles, compact cars, vans, trucks, buses, electric scooters and motorcycles that they’re pressed into front-line service as a desperate alternative to walking.
The Russian armed forces are de-mechanizing as losses of combat vehicles greatly outstrip the capacity of Russian industry to build new vehicles or regenerate them from long-term storage.
But Russian casualties—around 1,000 killed and wounded every day—are slightly lower on a monthly basis than Russian recruitment. On balance, the Kremlin inducts a few thousand more troops every month than it buries or sends to the hospital. So the de-mechanized regiments still have enough infantry, and can keep attacking.
But attacking in unarmored vehicles, or on foot, tends to get the attackers killed. Especially when they attack the same place in the same way twice in a month.
The Russian defeats afforded the Ukrainians an opportunity to counterattack around Vil’ne Pole, according to the Ukrainian Center for Defense Strategies.
Read more:
Scooters, Bikes, Cars and Golf Carts Now Account for 90% of Russian Losses
Unarmored vehicles now account for 90 percent of Russian losses along the front line of Russia’s 39-month wider war on Ukraine—down from just 25 percent a year ago.