Ukraine's 1st Azov Corps Has Destroyed Nearly an Entire Russian Brigade in the Pokrovsk Salient

The 132nd Motor Rifle Brigade has suffered around 1,400 casualties

1st Azov Corps photo

The Russian motor rifle brigade that marched right past empty Ukrainian trenches northeast of Pokrovsk a few weeks ago, ultimately penetrating nine miles past Ukrainian lines, wasn’t just any brigade. It was the 132nd Motor Rifle Brigade, which is—or was—largely staffed by Ukrainians from Russian-occupied Donetsk Oblast.

The Ukrainians “would better understand the area and potentially blend in,” noted Rob Lee, an analyst with the Foreign Policy Research Institute in Philadelphia. (See the 132nd Motor Rifle Brigade’s drones in action this summer in the video below.)

But that local knowledge didn’t save the members of the 132nd Motor Rifle Brigade when, starting around two weeks ago, the Ukrainian 1st Azov Corps and other units counterattacked. The 1st Azov Corps claimed it killed 984 Russians, wounded 355 and captured 44 through Tuesday.

That’s roughly half of the 132nd Motor Rifle Brigade, assuming the unit was at full strength when it breached Ukrainian lines. The 1st Azov Corps also claimed it destroyed more than 150 Russian vehicles. Motorcycles, mostly, but also 11 tanks.