A Ukrainian Air Assault Brigade Is Very Close To Laying Siege To A Key Russian Base
The 95th Air Assault Brigade has its crosshairs on Uspenivka
Ukraine’s southeast counteroffensive, now grinding into its second month, has achieved one of its main objectives. It has bought space and time for Ukrainian engineers to dig new fortifications around the town of Pokrovs’ke, which buttresses Ukrainian defenses between the a clutch of Russian field armies and, 50 miles to the west, the free city of Zaporizhzhia and its 700,000 pre-war residents.
But there’s another, more ambitious goal—and the Ukrainian 95th Air Assault Brigade is close to achieving that, too.
After clearing Russian infantry from 100 square miles of the disputed gray zone east of Pokrovs’ke and advancing a few miles into firmly Russian-controlled territory, the Ukrainian paratroopers are within striking distance of the village of Uspenivka, the forward base of the Russian 36th Combined Arms Army, one of three field armies aiming to march on Zaporizhzhia.
“They’re close,” observer Thorkill wrote about the Ukrainian paratroopers. “It’s just a matter of capturing two hills and one village.”
