A Russian Fighting Vehicle Dropped Off Its Infantry A Few Feet From A Fully-Manned Ukrainian Trench. The 'Firefight' Lasted a Few Seconds.
The Russians keep trying, and failing, to dislodge the Ukrainians around Vuhledar.
The war in Ukraine is really fluid right now. Russian forces are advancing on Pokrovsk, a Ukrainian stronghold in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk Oblast. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s surprise invasion of Russia’s Kursk Oblast just barreled into its 12th day—and shows no sign of stopping.
But there’s at least one sector where the front line is static, despite desperate—and extraordinarily costly—attempts by Russian forces to dislodge Ukrainian forces: the area around Vuhledar in Donetsk.
For eight months, a force of at least six Russian regiments and brigades has been on the offense around Vuhledar. For eight months, a Ukrainian force anchored by the 72nd Mechanized Brigade and the 79th Air Assault Brigade has repulsed the Russian attacks.
The most recent Russian assault was one of the most embarrassing for the assailants. On Aug. 13, a large Russian force—“several columns of vehicles and many infantry,” according to the 72nd Brigade—rolled toward Vuhledar under the cover of Russian air force attack jets. “Thanks to the high-quality and coordinated work of our brigade and attached units, the 72nd Mechanized Brigade held the line,” the unit reported.
Ukrainian drones confirmed the destruction of 10 BMP fighting vehicles, three MT-LB armored tractors and a T-80 tank. “When the enemy realized that the attack was failing, the survivors tried to flee—not all succeeded,” the 72nd Brigade stated.
At least one BMP actually got across the drone-infested, artillery-pocked no-man’s-land and reached a Ukrainian trench. A Ukrainian grenade launcher “tarred” the troops inside the BMP, according to Ukrainian journalist Anatoly Shtefan. At least three Russians were riding on top of the armored vehicle. When the BMP halted, they rolled off the vehicle to begin their assault on the Ukrainian position.
But the BMP crew had parked their vehicle literally a few feet from the trench and the Ukrainian infantry waiting in it. The infantry dismounted—and were promptly gunned down at close range. “An incredible welcome from our heroes,” Shtefan quipped.
As though a dark joke needed two bloody punchlines, the BMP rolled away—and was later destroyed, according to Shtefan.
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