To Capture An Important Russian Base, A Ukrainian Airborne Battlegroup Must First Climb a Difficult Hill
Hill 134 stands between the 95th Air Assault Brigade and Uspenivka
Pushing deeper into what was once Russian-controlled territory at the juncture of Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia Oblasts in southeastern Ukraine, counterattacking Ukrainian forces have reached a critical ravine—and adjacent hilltops—near the Russian-occupied village of Novohryhorivka.
Hill 149 buttresses the Skotowata Ravine to the north. Hill 134 buttresses the ravine to the south. The Skotowata Ravine, and the Yanchur River just south of it, are the biggest obstacles between a powerful Ukrainian airborne battlegroup and Uspenivka, the main forward base of the Russian 36th Combined Arms Army.
To eject the meddlesome 36th CAA from Uspenivka and force the army farther from the brittle Ukrainian positions around the strategic town of Pokrovs’ke, the Ukrainian battlegroup—anchored by the 95th Air Assault Brigade—must descend Hill 149, cross the Skotowata Ravine, climb Hill 134 and then march another two miles south.
It’s a tough route for the paratroopers. But the Ukrainians still have the momentum in the southeast a month after the Russians suffered a catastrophic communications meltdown.
