The Russians Are Shoving Artillery Into The Chaotic Pocket Outside Pokrovsk

At least one big gun is now 'scrap metal'

A Russian M46 in action. Russian state media photo

Nearly two months after the Russian 132nd Motor Rifle Brigade slipped past under-manned Ukrainian trenches northeast of the fortress city of Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk Oblast, the Russians are still fighting for what remains of the salient the motor rifle troops carved out of the Ukrainian line.

They’re even sending in artillery. Or, at least, trying to do so.

On or before Monday, Ukrainian forces spotted and struck a Russian artillery convoy hauling a 130-millimeter M46 gun into the base of the salient near the village of Pankivka. (See video below.)

The roads around Pankivka are one of the bottlenecks for Russian troops traveling into the salient, which is actually a chaotic pocket of back-and-forth control measuring around 25 square miles. Ukrainian artillery and drones have recently struck Russian infantry and motorcycle troops trying to rush past Pankivka—and now they’ve hit that artillery column, too.