1/ The recent destruction of a Russian column at Volodymyrivka has prompted strong reactions from Russian warbloggers. Some claim the attack to have been successful, despite the losses; others castigate commanders for sacrificing lives and vehicles. ⬇️ https://x.com/NOELreports/stat...
2/ 'Military Informant' is in the first camp, commenting: "While during the summer months, the vector of combat operations along the entire front had shifted toward small infantry groups of several men, transported to the front lines by light wheeled vehicles, in this case,…
3/ …for the first time in a long time, we are witnessing the mass use of tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, and armored personnel carriers. Clearly, the accumulated reserves were deployed to expand the existing breakthrough zone, simplify its logistics,…
4/ …and reduce the threat of Ukrainian forces cutting off the breakthrough's "gut," as Volodymyrivka and the adjacent Shakhove are a vital road leading toward Kucheriv Yar and Nove Shakhove.
5/ "Footage released by the enemy of attempts to repel the assault once again demonstrates the extreme difficulty of conducting such offensives with masses of armour, as well as the high price paid each time due to the dominance of kamikaze drones in the skies.
6/ "Nevertheless, due to the weak infantry component of the Ukrainian Armed Forces' defence in this sector, a column of Russian vehicles was able to enter the village and land troops, who have already consolidated their position."
7/ [Note: reports on Russian successes are conflicting, with the Russians claiming to have taken territory while the Ukrainians claim to have eliminated the troops who were landed from the vehicles.]
8/ "Most likely, the worse the weather becomes in the near future, the more difficult it will be for the enemy to detect the concentration of Russian armoured vehicles near the front lines, meaning they will have less time to react.
9/ "The situation in the Dobropillia breakthrough zone is still extremely precarious and will remain so until Shakhove is captured, thereby expanding the front and establishing supply lines.
10/ "Therefore, we can soon expect more similar attacks involving armoured vehicles, which, however, are becoming less and less common on the modern battlefield with each passing month.
11/ "Moreover, it can be noted that it is quite difficult for Ukrainian FPV drone operators to completely destroy tightly "trapped" vehicles, and the vehicles themselves do not explode from every second hit.
12/ "This is likely also a positive factor in the BMP-3's refusal to use 100mm shells during assault operations [to prevent them exploding catastrophically when hit]". 'Razvedos' is also in the glass-half-full camp:
13/ "They waited for the weather to clear. They assembled a GOOD force and equipment and blew it away. The enemy was hitting everything—tanks, armored vehicles, motorcycles… But SUDDENLY, they couldn't get it out.
14/ "❗️The MASSIFICATION of forces and resources was decisive, but it could not help but be decisive - no means of destruction can contradict the basic principles of military art! ❗️Yes, a lot has been lost—unfortunately! But EVERYTHING LOST is within our zone of control.
15/ "This means evacuating the wounded, evacuating equipment, and returning it to service. This isn't a 'grey area' where more is lost in a month than during the assault."
16/ Taking a more sceptical view, 'Fighterbomber' points out that a lot of men and materiel were expended against a relatively marginal location:
17/ "The question remains unanswered as to how many people and how much equipment, resources and rainy days would be needed for such a massive operation to liberate all the Vladimirivkas in Ukraine.
18/ "And there are fortresses and strongholds that are, to put it mildly, more serious than Vladimirivka." Alexander Garmaev is scathing about "losses are no big deal" commentators such as Razvedos:
19/ "It's complete nonsense from someone who, judging by what I've read, doesn't give a damn what's going on here. Give frontline analytics to someone who has never been to war, and they will run wild...
20/ "Unfortunately, he's not alone; there are tons of channels spouting similar nonsense, but he certainly distinguished himself. Of course, there are plenty of authors like that. Fuck the tactics, warriors!
21/ "Stay on track, write reviews about rags and tactics, like killing cardboard, but the arrow goes here, that goes there, and how everything's fine, they fucked us up so much that it became good, that's not your thing.
22/ "That's roughly the message behind the high-flown post about taking yet another village full of old women. Everything's fucking fine, and I'm writing this about the Pokrovsk front.
23/ "Not a word about the equipment he described in the post being operated by real people, our soldiers. Shouldn't you at least voice the problem and ask yourself if there are ways and means to reduce losses? Isn't it possible? Is it bothering you?
24/ "Read a bunch of armchair generals they don't care about casualties, they don't care about the mistakes of butchers, they don't care about supply problems, they don't care that people are dying. They're experts, opinion leaders, and what's going on here?
25/ "Why the hell should you share a piece of bread with trench cattle? So what if they made a mistake on a 1:10000000 scale map by a couple of centimetres? In a warm hut in Moscow or somewhere else, you can see the front better, who cares." /end
@ChrisO_wiki This attack is one of the greatest successes of Putin's army. The Russians destroyed 75 drones, 45 land mines, and 120 artillery shells from the Ukrainian army. Blocking the road with scrap metal was a major success.