Footage captured the moment Vladimir Putin‘s forces were left humiliated when one of his biggest recent assaults of his war on Ukraine ended in substantial losses.
The Russian leader had ordered his troops to capture more territory in the Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, but the push near Kurakhove resulted in mass death and destruction.
The failed assault led to the reported deaths of 40 invaders, and left 37 more injured.
Russia is carrying out intense attacks in multiple sections of the eastern front, but in a Ukraine victory, troops managed to fend off 29 attacks in Kurakhove alone, the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces, Dmytro Hutsuliak revealed in its latest update.
Ukrainian paratroopers destroyed six Russian tanks and seven advancing armoured combat vehicles as they were hit by kamikaze drones.
Russia suffered a crushing setback from an assault in the Kurakhove area of Donetsk region with the loss of six tanks, seven armoured personnel carriers with infantry, and 12 military motorbikes
Ukrainian paratroopers destroyed six Russian tanks and seven advancing armoured combat vehicles as they were hit by kamikaze drones
Ukraine’s 79th Separate Air Assault Brigade called the Russian push ‘one of the largest assaults of the war’
The Russian attack group was also targeted by anti-tank gunners, said Ukraine’s 79th Separate Air Assault Brigade – also known as the Taurian Brigade.
The Russian army launched the attack from several directions simultaneously early Wednesday morning, the brigade said, while sharing the footage of the assault.
The brutal attack reportedly involved some 57 armoured vehicles, 11 tanks, 12 motorcycles, and 200 assault vehicles.
Ukraine’s brigade had spotted the Russian equipment in advance and unleashed fury upon Moscow’s forces through relentless artillery fire.
The Russians also reportedly fell in to mines placed by Ukrainian sappers.
‘As a result of the battle, our paratroopers shot down six tanks and seven armoured personnel carriers with infantry,’ said the brigade’s statement.
‘All 12 motorbikes were burned.
‘The Russians suffered huge losses in manpower: 40 occupants were killed and another 37 wounded.’
The substantial losses comes after British Army head General Sir Roly Walker warned yesterday that if Russia keeps up its attacks on Ukraine, it will take five years for its forces to achieve a minimum goal of fully capturing just four regions at a staggering loss of up to 1.8million soldiers – dead and wounded.
Walker was referring to the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk as well as Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in the south.
They are all partially under Russian control already following more than two and a half years of fighting and more than half a million casualties.
The Russians fell into mines placed by Ukrainian sappers
The Russians used 11 tanks, and 45 armoured combat vehicles plus one Terminator tank support combat vehicle in the assault
The statement from Ukraine’s Taurian brigade continued: ‘After knocking out the first tanks and armoured vehicles, other vehicles rushed to flee the battlefield. Drone operators finished off the infantry as they ran.’
The brigade called the Russian push ‘one of the largest assaults of the war’.
The Russians used 11 tanks, and 45 armoured combat vehicles plus one Terminator tank support combat vehicle.
‘The rest of the equipment fled the battlefield,’ said the statement.
According to Hutsuliak, over the past 24 hours, Ukraine’s Air Force, as well as missile and artillery units, have launched 13 strikes on enemy manpower clusters, hit a control post, an artillery system, two anti-aircraft missile systems, and a radar.
The savage assault comes as the Kremlin revealed they are open to negotiation with Ukraine on ending the war – something Moscow has dubbed a special military operation.
But Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Wednesday during a visit to China that Kyiv was also prepared for talks with Russia provided Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity were fully respected, though he said that Ukraine has seen no sign of that.
When asked on Thursday whether Russia would be ready to hold talks with Ukraine while President Volodymyr Zelensky was in power, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters: ‘Russia is generally open to a negotiation process.
‘But first we have to understand how ready the Ukrainian side is for this and how much the Ukrainian side has permission for this from its handlers.’
Putin in June said Russia would end the war in Ukraine, but only if Kyiv agreed to drop its NATO ambitions.