A battalion-size Russian mechanised assault ended in disaster as Ukrainian forces successfully repelled the advance and laid waste to dozens of vehicles.
Unverified footage of the battle, released by Ukraine’s Airborne Assault Forces on Facebook, saw several Russian vehicles billowing with smoke as they became bogged down by intense fire. A typical Russian Battalion Tactical Group consists of 10 tanks and 40 infantry fighting vehicles.
The Facebook post claimed that: “Two tanks, two armoured personnel carriers and an infantry fighting vehicle had been destroyed during Russia’s attack”and those who remained managed to flee in panic.
“The enemy column, which attacked the positions of the soldiers of the National Guard of Ukraine, also suffered a setback.”
According to the independent US-based think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW), the footage results from an operation on Friday where Ukrainian paratroopers successfully repelled a Russian battalion in the Kupiansk region.
The Ukrainian military said that Russian forces had tried to storm the positions of Ukraine’s 77th separate airmobile brigade and the National Guard in two separate operations.
“However, even with such serious forces, the enemy units did not succeed,” the post said, adding how Ukraine’s paratroopers and national guardsmen had been successful in “defeating the enemy and pushing him back to their starting positions.”
The ISW claimed that the footage came from two separate firefights nearby, suggesting that the Russians were advancing towards Ukrainian defensive positions in narrow columns.
At the political level, the two countries remain locked in a stalemate, as each side pursues its strategy for ending the war in some capacity.
This week, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky met with Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump as he made his latest visit to the US.
The two held an awkward question and answer session in front of the assembled media where the former US president Trump made the strange boast of his “close relationship with Putin” as the Ukrainian leader fought hard to control his facial response.
Meanwhile, Vladimir Putin continues to assault the Donetsk region of Ukraine, refusing to divert significant forces to the Kursk region where Russia has lost territory for the first time since the Second World War.
The Russian dictator has continued to threaten the West with any further involvement in the conflict, as Ukraine pressures its Western allies to be allowed to use Western missiles in an offensive capacity.
The Russian President has emphasised that any conventional strike on Russia, backed by a nuclear state, would be interpreted as a coordinated attack, warning the US and UK against allowing their weapons to be fired inside Russia.
