The Russian military has made new gains in Donbass, liberating several new settlements from Kiev’s forces
The past week in the Russia-Ukraine conflict has seen active combat continuing at multiple locations along the front line, with Moscow reporting new gains in Donbass and the liberation of more villages from Kiev’s forces.
On Sunday, the Russian Defense Ministry announced the liberation of Chigari, a small settlement located shortly to the northwest of the town of Gorlovka, Russia’s Donetsk People’s Republic. The settlement, which has been reduced into rubble over the years of fighting in formerly-Ukrainian Donbass, has been used by Kiev’s forces as one of the staging points to launch indiscriminate artillery and missile strikes on Gorlovka.
Active fighting continued in the village of New York (also known as Novgorodskoye), located to the west of the town. Russian forces have reportedly broken through the Ukrainian defenses in the area, entering the village from the south and partially seizing control of it.
The Avdeevka axis remains one of the hottest points of the whole frontline, with the Russian forces continuing their westward advance following the liberation of the key town mid-February. Over the past week, the troops have expanded their zone of control around the town of Ocheretino, which used to serve as a major logistics hub for the Ukrainian forces.
On Saturday, the military said it had seized Sokol, a village to the south of Ocheretino, which has seen an intense battle over the past few weeks. The development was followed by the liberation of Voskhod, a village immediately to the west of Sokol. With the Russian zone of control expanding in the area, the military is expected to formally announce the capture of Yevgenovka, a village effectively forming a single agglomeration with Voskhod, shortly.
The Russian advance also continued to the south of Ocheretino beyond the now-defunct Orlovka-Tonenkoye-Berdychi line, a series of villages stretching along a system of canals and ponds, where the Ukrainian forces tried to create new fortified positions after the fall of Avdeevka. On Tuesday, the defense military announced the liberation of Yasnobrodovka, a small village located on the banks of the Volchya River reservoir. The body of water, as well as the Karlovskoye reservoir located shortly to the south of it, serve as major obstacles for the Russian advance.
Strikes on Ukraine’s defense industry
On Monday, the Russian military launched a major missile and kamikaze drone attack against Ukrainian military-industrial complex, targeting multiple locations across the country. Antonov aircraft and Artyom military plants in Kiev, Yuzhmash plant in Dnepr (formerly Dnepropetrovsk), a factory in Krivoy Rog, as well as several other facilities were among the targets.
Footage circulating online shows the moment of the strike on Yuzhmash, with multiple Geran-2 kamikaze drones and missiles hitting the location. Ukrainian anti-aircraft defenses appear to intercept only a single suicide drone.
Another video taken in Kiev shows at least six Kh-101 cruise missiles striking the Artyom plant, with powerful explosions and a massive cloud of dust and smoke seen at the location.
The Monday strikes have appeared to cause considerable collateral damage, with Kiev accusing the Russian military of deliberately targeting civilian facilities. Moscow has firmly denied such claims, attributing the collateral damage to Ukrainian anti-aircraft defenses, notorious for repeatedly hitting residential buildings and other structures on the ground.
Arguably the most notable civilian facility damaged amid the barrage was the Ohmatdet child hospital in the Ukrainian capital. While Kiev claimed the hospital was hit by a Kh-101 cruise missile, the hit was filmed by multiple bystanders, with footage available suggesting it was actually damaged by an AIM-120 anti-aircraft missile, fired by a NASAMS system supplied by Ukraine’s Western backers.
“Numerous published photos and video footage from Kiev clearly confirm the fact of destruction due to the fall of a Ukrainian air defense missile launched from an anti-aircraft missile system within the city,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in response to the accusations, dismissing them as “absolutely untrue.”
Rear strikes
Over the past week, the Russian military continued to actively conduct strikes on the Ukrainian military’s rear, targeting personnel and hardware, ammo dumps, staging areas and storage.
A large convoy of over 20 military vehicles and a field ammo dump were hit by an Iskander-M tactical ballistic missile near the village of Stetskovka in Ukraine’s northeastern Sumy Region. Thermal drone footage shared by the Russian Defense Ministry shows the location pelted by bomblets deployed from the cluster warhead of the missile.
The strike sparked a major fire at the location, with powerful secondary detonations of ammunition observed by the surveillance drone. According to Moscow’s estimates, up to 65 Ukrainian servicemen were killed or injured in the strike.
Another video circulating online shows two Russian aerial bombs, fitted with the UUniversal Correction and Guidance Module (UMPK) winged upgrade kits, hitting a hangar near Liman, a tiny village located shortly to the south of Volchansk, a Ukrainian town close to the Russia-Ukraine border, which has seen active combat over the past few weeks.
The hangar was reportedly used to house several multiple rocket launcher systems, as well as to stockpile their ammunition. The systems have been used to provide fire support to the Ukrainian forces operating in the area, as well as to launch indiscriminate crossborder attacks on Russian soil.
Hunt for anti-air systems
The Russian military has continued its hunt for the Ukrainian anti-aircraft defenses, reporting strikes on several pieces of Western-supplied, as well as Soviet-era hardware.
On Sunday, the Russian defense Ministry shared footage of ballistic missile strikes on an anti-aircraft unit’s position in Odessa Region, located immediately by the shoreline.
During the strike, the Russian military destroyed a Swedish-made Giraffe radar, as well as at least two US-made Patriot anti-aircraft missile launchers, the ministry said.
A Ukrainian Soviet-era S-300 anti-aircraft system was found and destroyed by the Russian forces last Friday, footage circulating online shows. The anti-aircraft position was found by surveillance drones deep into Ukrainian territory by the town of Mirgorod, Polatava Region, some 130km away from the frontline.
The anti-aircraft unit, which included at least two launchers and a radar array, was deployed at a disused agricultural facility at an isolated location, footage shows. The site was apparently targeted by an Iskander-M ballistic missile system in a double tap-style attack, with a highly explosive warhead followed by a cluster munition, the video suggests. The strikes sparked multiple fires at the site, as well as triggered detonation of anti-aircraft missiles.
