Russian Forces Attacked Bahatyr In a Long Column of Civilian Cars
Ukrainian artillery defeated the unarmored attack
The town of Bahatyr is the next stop for Russian forces fighting to advance in southern Donetsk Oblast at the corner of the front line, where the line of contact bends from west-east to south-north and threads through Donetsk and neighboring Luhansk Oblasts.
For the Russians, attacks along this corner are tempting, as an advancing regiment would contend with Ukrainian fire from the north, but not from the opposite direction—as Russia controls the terrain to the south.
But this geographical advantage is worthless if the regiments and brigades lack the combat power to even cross the no-man’s-land and reach Ukrainian positions. And it’s evident, in the contours of the most recent Russian assault on Bahatyr, that the local Russia units are badly depleted.
On Saturday, Russian troops—possibly from the 36th Motor Rifle Brigade—rode toward the town in a column of 18 motorcycles and 10 civilian cars. Not a single armored vehicle in the mix. “The Russian invaders were detected in advance, after which the enemy column was hit by fire,” Ukraine’s eastern command reported.
As drones watched (see video above), cluster shells rained down. “Close interaction between the brigades, proper organization of intelligence and clear management of combat operations yielded results—the enemy’s intentions were not realized,” the command boasted.
Out of 18 motorcycles, 15 were destroyed. Nine of 10 cars were hit. Forty Russians died, according to the Ukrainian Vuhledar Tactical Group said.
De-mechanization death spiral
Having written off 17,000 armored vehicles and other heavy equipment since February 2022—thousands more vehicles than Russian industry can build new or recover from long-term storage—the Russian military is caught in a mechanization death spiral: deploying more civilian vehicles, which get destroyed even faster than the military vehicles do, requiring the deployment of more civilian vehicles.
The failed all-bikes-and-cars assault on Bahatyr is indicative of the wider degradation of the entire Russian armed forces as the Kremlin keeps ordering its forces to attack, attack, attack—despite the staggering losses and improving Ukrainian defenses, anchored by substantial artillery and the world’s most powerful arsenal of attack drones.
Even Russia’s once-elite 76th Guards Air Assault Division is equipping assault troops with electric scooters.
The pace of the de-mechanization has surprised some observers. “We knew they'd be down to civvie vehicles by 2025, but it's still earlier than expected,” Ukraine Control Map noted.
Read more:
The Russian 76th Guards Air Assault Division Used to Be Elite. Now Its Troops Ride on Electric Scooters.
As recently as two years ago, the Russian 76th Guards Air Assault Division was an elite formation, with better equipment and training than most Russian regiments and divisions.