Why Did Ukrainian Commandos In Blackhawk Helicopters Attempt A Practically Suicidal Operation In Pokrovsk?
The Oct. 29 raid ended in bloody disaster
On or just before Wednesday, Russian troops hung a flag outside a gas station near the intersection of Zahystnykiv Ukrainy Street and the O0525 highway in the industrial zone on the western edge of Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine.
A Ukrainian drone quickly blasted the flag. Still, it was an ominous development for potentially thousands of Ukrainian troops in and near Pokrovsk that the Russians could control, even temporarily, one of just two main supply routes into the city.
So it should come as no surprise that, reportedly the same day, the Ukrainian main intelligence directorate—the HUR—launched a dramatic and costly commando operation near the intersection.
It’s unclear what the directorate’s goal was: the roughly two commando squads involved in the op weren’t enough to hold the intersection. But it’s surely no coincidence that the Ukrainian raid occurred the same day the Russians advanced to the O0525 in order to hang that flag.
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