900 Russians Die As Ukraine's 1st Azov Corps Rolls Up the Pokrovsk Pocket
The Russian 51st Combined Arms Army didn't deploy its drones fast enough
A powerful Ukrainian force, including some or all of around 10 brigades anchored by the new 1st Azov Corps, is rolling up the Russian 51st Combined Arms Army’s nine-mile-deep—but rapidly shrinking—salient northeast of Pokrovsk.
Ukrainian attacks have reportedly killed, wounded or captured nearly 1,300 Russians in 12 days.
“Stabilization operations … are ongoing,” the 1st Azov Corps reported Friday. Russian casualties in the 1st Azov Corps’ sector have, since Aug. 5, totaled 910 killed, 335 wounded and 37 captured, the Ukrainian general staff announced Sunday.
The Russian penetration was bigger and more dangerous than some analysts initially concluded. “Let’s start by describing what this absolutely is not: a breakthrough,” U.S. analyst Andrew Perpetua asserted on Aug. 12. “There isn’t an advance. The reality is that there isn’t a coherent front line.”
It’s true that the front line isn’t really a line anymore—it’s more a broad and porous zone of scattered infantry positions. But we know what it took for Ukrainian forces to block further Russian advances north of Pokrovsk toward the village of Dobropillya. It took a lot.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Trench Art to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.