September 15, 2023 will go down in history as a brilliant victory for Ukrainian troops and the defeat of the Russians in the battle for the village of Andriivka near Bakhmut, which began in May of this year.
Confirmed Russian casualties in the last month alone, which will be demonstrated later, include the commander of the 85th Motorized Rifle Brigade, the chief of intelligence of the 72nd Motorized Rifle Brigade, three battalion commanders of the 72nd Brigade, and hundreds of soldiers and officers. The enemy put up a fierce resistance – an entire Russian brigade was defending one village with two streets and fifty houses, every day the Russians were taking out 200s and 300s from Andriivka, sending reinforcements, and sending assault groups to counterattack. The flanks of the 72nd Brigade were covered by the 85th and 57th Motorized Rifle Brigades and the 31st Air Assault Brigade. The Russian grouping in the area of Andriivka included separate units such as Kadyrov’s Akhmat Guard, the 10th Special Forces Brigade of the Russian Armed Forces, and a separate reconnaissance battalion of the Española Airborne Forces armed with a large number of FPV drones. The Russians were supported by significant aviation forces.
However, the 3rd Assault Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine under the command of Colonel Andriy Biletsky demonstrated superiority over the Russians in combat capability, organization, and command. This was a victory of quality over quantity. The victory would not have been possible without the effective actions of the 3rd Assault Brigade’s attached units – units of the 92nd Mechanized Brigade, border guards, an infantry battalion, several units of attack drones, artillery support from neighboring brigades and the artillery of the Joint Forces Operation.
This is how the breakthrough and destruction of the echelon defense of the Russian Armed Forces is achieved – we need to carefully study the principles of organization and use of the troops of the 3rd Assault Brigade in the battle for Andriivka.
Unfortunately, many true heroes and patriots of Ukraine died in these battles. The enemy was powerful and not inferior in number of troops or ammunition. But Russian losses were many times higher. Why? The 3rd Assault Brigade did not conduct “meat assaults,” but rather created an advantage in maneuvering fire, constantly improved situational awareness, carefully built interaction and cohesion, and outplayed the enemy in tactics and decision-making speed. The main principle was to avoid significant casualties and maintain a high rate of enemy losses.
I congratulate the soldiers who took part in the fierce battles for Andriivka on this real success – all your hard work has paid off.
Eternal glory to all the heroes who brought this victory closer at the cost of their lives.
Yuruy Butusov, editor in chief censor.NET
Ukraine Front Lines
Tags: donetsk oblast russia ukraine war
