23 Nov: Nice! Ukrainians Secure Tactical Heights In A Bold Counterattack. - Reporting from Ukraine

[TexasTowelie]

Today there are a lot of updates from the Kurakhove direction.

Here, the Russians are trying to create a cauldron around the town of Uspenivka and take it, as it is a significant obstacle for their offensive effort to encircle a large group of Ukrainians. However, the Ukrainians were able to thwart Russian offensive efforts by deploying the elite Marine Corps that established a formidable defense belt and prevented the Russian penetration.

The town of Uspenivka and its fortifications are part of a larger defense line along the Sukhy Yaly River, which includes the villages of Uspenivka, Hannivka, Vesely Hai, Romanivka, Illinka, Yelyzavetivka, and Katerynivka. For the past month, the main Russian axis of advance in this area was from the east in the area of Katerynivka. The Russian plan here was to engage in a slow grinding battle for control of the towns along the Sukhy Yaly River one by one, which was expected to last for years.

However, for Russians to approach Yelizavetivka, after a month of intense fighting for the town of Katerinovka, they had to cross the Solodka River which is a tributary to Sukhy Yali, merging the two rivers and enhancing the Ukrainian defense with a natural barrier. To make matters worse for the Russians, with the narrow width of the Sukhy Yaly River valley Russian forces do not have much space to maneuver, exposing them as vulnerable against Ukrainian FPV drones covering the area as their route of advance is predictable. Combat footage from the area reveals how drone operators of the Ukrainian 79th Assault Brigade managed to destroy or damage five Russian armored vehicles in two days.

Furthermore, the only bridge that enables any crossing to the Ukrainian side of Sukhy Yaly and Solodka Rivers in this frontline section is destroyed. The attempt of a such river crossing could result in way higher losses for the Russians the and potential risk of rendering their units combat ineffective from such an operation. This made the Russian command consider a change to their approach, instead switching their focus from Yelyzavetivka to Uspenivka.

After the large Russian territorial gains after the fall of Vuhledar, they were able to approach the Sukhy Yaly defense line from the south and from the north from Dalne as a result of their offensive towards Kurakhove. The goal of Russian forces in the area of the Sukhy Yaly line is to approach the Ukrainian defenses from two pincers by approaching Uspenivka. Uspenivka is the main highway intersection and the main supply hub of the Ukrainian forces in the Sukhy Yali defense line. If the Russians take over Uspenivka, the Ukrainian forces in the rest of the Sukhy Yaly line would be forced to withdraw, abandoning their positions to the Russians without resistance.

However, the Ukrainians identified a critical weak spot in the Russian positions that consisted of less defended line of trenches. These positions are located in an elevated area, overlooking the highway to Uspenivka and Russian rear positions in the lowlands. By controlling them the Ukrainian fighters would be able to cancel the planned Russian assault on Uspenivka by establishing fire control of their axis of advance along the highway, thus forcing the Russians to try and retake control of the tactical elevation.

In order to execute this operation, the Ukrainians deployed their elite Marine Corps, modeled after the US Marines, to storm the Russian positions to the south of Uspenivka. The Marines were deployed on US-supplied M-ATV Oshkosh armored vehicles, which effectively suppressed Russian trenches with their machine-gun fire, enabling the dismounting marines to storm Russian trenches. After a prolonged battle, they were able to take the Russian positions to the south of Uspenivka and capture several Russian soldiers, which revealed critical information about their planned operations.

Overall, the Ukrainians managed to undermine the Russian operations along the Sukhy Yali Line by first forcing them to try and attack from the south in an attempt to create a pincer, only then for the Ukrainians to cancel the formation of this pincer and threatening the whole line of advance by holding tactical elevations. These developments on the frontline will force the Russians to switch their focus from Uspenivka to the positions retaken by the Ukrainian fighters, delaying their planned attacks on Uspenivka by weeks or even months...

[niyad]

1. Slava Ukraini. Thank you for the update.