The Ukrainian 141st Mechanized Brigade Is Outnumbered and Outgunned. It Counterattacked Anyway.

A swift assault liberated two villages in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.

A powerful force led by the Russian army’s biggest division, the 25,000-man 90th Tank Division, is steadily advancing through southern Donetsk Oblast toward the town of Pokrov’ske in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.

Beyond Pokrov’ske lies Zaporizhzhia Oblast—and the city of Zaporizhzhia with its pre-war population of 700,000.

In the 43 months since Russia widened its war on Ukraine, the Russians have never captured a city as big as Zaporizhzhia. The city is 50 miles west of Pokrovs’ke, so it’s not in imminent danger.

But the Ukrainians are determined to blunt the Russian advance well before it threatens Zaporizhzhia. On or before Tuesday, the Ukrainian army’s 141st Mechanized Brigade counterattacked north of the main Russian front, swiftly liberating the villages of Sichneve and Novoselivka—and exposing the Russian Eastern Grouping of Forces’ left flank.