Ukraine loses 16 US-made armored vehicles, group says, but still gains territory

CNN
—

Ukraine has lost 16 US-supplied armored vehicles in the past few days, according to open-source intelligence analysis, as the country’s military announced its forces had captured three villages from Russia. in an offensive in the eastern region of Donetsk.

The 16 US Bradley infantry fighting vehicles that have been destroyed or damaged and abandoned in recent days represent about 15% of the 109 delivered by Washington to Kyiv, according to Jakub Janovsky of the Dutch open-source intelligence website Oryx, which collects visual evidence of the loss of military equipment in Ukraine since the Russian invasion began on February 24, 2022.

The Bradley fighting vehicle, which moves on rails instead of wheels, can hold up to 10 troops and is used to transport personnel into battle while providing fire support.

When the first batch of more than 60 Bradleys were sent to Ukraine at the end of January, US Army Lt. Col. Rebecca D’Angelo, commander of the Army’s 841st Transportation Battalion, said the armored vehicles will be important in offensive operations in Kyiv.

“It is hoped to improve their capabilities to enable forward progress on the battlefield and regain lost ground, by having equipment equal to or superior to what the Russians have,” he said. D’Angelo in a US Army report.

But when Washington announced in January that it would give Bradleys to Ukraine, CNN military analyst James “Spider” Marks, a retired general, said the Bradleys needed the right mix of other capabilities, including air support, long-range artillery and incisive intelligence. .

“A piece of equipment like the Bradleys is amazing, but it has to be used in conjunction with all the other enablers,” he said at the time.

Air support is one area where Ukraine’s military is lacking, although Kyiv’s forces are expected to acquire F-16 multi-role fighter jets from Western allies in the future.

The Bradleys are among nearly 3,600 pieces of military equipment Ukraine has lost in the war, according to Oryx. Meanwhile, the website says it has documented the loss of more than 10,600 pieces of Russian military equipment.

In a statement on Monday, Moscow admitted that it had destroyed several Ukrainian armored vehicles in the Zaporizhzhia region.

“The enemy’s armored forces are currently launching more attacks on [Zaporizhzhia] direction. However, Russian anti-tank troops stand in their way, coldly turning Western armored vehicles into garbage cans,” the Russian Ministry of Defense said.

The statement did not say what kind of vehicles were destroyed.

Despite the loss of the Bradleys, Ukraine reported that they captured at least three villages from Russian forces in fighting over the weekend.

Ukraine’s advance south from the front-line town of Velyka Novosilke in the Donetsk region now extends to somewhere between 5 and 10 kilometers (3 to 6 miles), according to information released by the Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar.

Writing on Telegram Sunday night, Maliar said the village of Makrivka had been recaptured from Russian control – the third in a string of settlements sitting on the banks of the Mokri Yaly River that were declared liberated by the forces. in Ukraine all day.

Earlier, videos emerged showing soldiers raising the Ukrainian flag from buildings in Neskuchne and Blahodatne.

CNN military analyst Mark Hertling said the situation is positive for Ukraine from both moral and combat perspectives.

“It reinforces the fact that they’re moving forward,” Hertling told CNN’s Jim Acosta.

Meanwhile, “every piece of land that Ukrainian forces can return to their sovereign territory will be part of a march towards the success of the operation,” Hertling said.

Reporting on the developments, Russian military bloggers offer a pessimistic assessment of the situation facing Kremlin forces in the area. The Rybar Telegram channel suggested late Sunday that the offensive in Ukraine seems likely to continue, adding that Russian forces “should expect the pressure to intensify in the near future.”

The fighting took place near the village of Urozhaine, a little further up the river, Rybar reported. The channel added that heavy clouds and rain also limited the ability of Russian forces to use drones to stop the Ukrainian advance.

A spokesman for the Ukrainian army said that Russian forces blew up a dam on the river, adding that there was flooding on both banks but said it “does not affect our counter-offensive actions.”

In the latest battle on the battlefield, Russia’s Defense Ministry did not talk about withdrawals but said its forces “destroyed concentrations of manpower and equipment” in three Ukrainian brigades which operates in the same area.

Further west, in the nearby region of Zaporizhzhia, Russian airstrikes and artillery fire by the Vostok brigade succeeded in pushing back three Ukrainian advances south of Orikhiv, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

Meanwhile, a Ukrainian army spokesman told CNN that Kyiv forces had been counter-attacking around the eastern town of Bakhmut for a week but played down its significance saying, “This is not a big offensive.”

“These are counterattacks where we take advantage of the fact that the enemy is rotating, that the enemy has not yet fully reconnoited, has not yet fully coordinated its units, has not yet fully dug in. said the CNN by phone.

He said Russian forces continued to fire toward Ukrainian positions but said Ukrainian forces had advanced up to two kilometers (1.25 miles) in those areas.

Cherevatyi said the Russian presence in Bakhmut is maintained by air troops, with support from infantry personnel and mercenaries from several small private military companies.

While Russian forces continue to control the city, Ukrainian forces are concentrating their efforts in the northwest and southwest areas.

Hertling noted that Ukraine is using a “deep-strike capability” to disrupt Russian supply lines from the front lines.

“Ukraine is very good in terms of hitting deep targets that affect logistics support,” Hertling said.