Kyiv’s forces wipe out tank column as they repel huge Russian assault
Losses reported as Ukraine fends off one of the largest mechanised attacks since the start of the invasion
RUSSIA lost up to 20 armoured vehicles in a single failed attack in the west of Ukraine’s Donetsk region, Ukrainian troops have claimed.
Kyiv’s forces fended off a force of 36 tanks and 12 BMP infantry fighting vehicles as part of a large assault northwest of Avdiivka on March 30, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said, citing a Ukrainian serviceman. The massive tank charge is believed to be one of
Moscow’s largest mechanised assaults since the start of the war.
Aerial footage of the assault posted on social media by Ukraine’s defence ministry shows a convoy of at least nine tanks and armoured vehicles advancing along a road while coming under fire.
“Ukrainian paratroopers from the 25th Airborne Brigade repelled a massive Russian attack near Tonenke village,” the Ukrainian ministry of defence posted on social media. “As a result, [Ukrainian] warriors destroyed 4 Russian tanks and 2 IFVS.”
The footage only captures part of Russia’s losses, Ukrainian military bloggers reported, with the anonymous serviceman stating that 12 Russian tanks and eight armoured vehicles were destroyed. Posting a video on Telegram, Ukraine’s 47th Separate Mechanised Brigade claimed it was responsible for the deaths of almost 1,300 Russians and the destruction of 28 vehicles, including one tank and 17 armoured vehicles.
In separate footage, a soldier can be seen successfully striking a Russian tank with a Javelin missile. “Sicheslav paratroopers destroyed an enemy tank along with its crew!” the Ukrainian 25th Separate Brigade said.
Geolocated images show a number of damaged Russian vehicles along a road northwest of Tonenke, which the ISW and UK Ministry of Defence consider likely to have been captured by Moscow’s forces. The settlement lies eight miles west of Avdiivka, which was seized by Russia in February in its most significant advance since the capture of Bakhmut in May 2023.
Russian forces have not carried out a mechanised assault of this scale since the start of Moscow’s attempt to capture Avdiivka in late October, the ISW reported, when Ukrainian forces reportedly destroyed almost 50 Russian tanks and over 100 armoured vehicles during a two-day period. The think tank added that the extent of this latest attack, carried out by Russia’s sixth tank regiment, indicates Russian command “may be prioritising” the Avdiivka region as the site of a spring offensive.
“The Russian military command’s willingness to commit a battalion’s worth of tanks to an attack near Avdiivka indicates that this assault was a priority effort,” it said.
Kyiv’s efforts on the front lines came as a 4,500 sq m fire broke out at one of Russia’s largest heavy machinery factories in Yekaterinburg. The Uralmash facility produces equipment for mining, the cement industry and energy facilities including nuclear power plants.
The blaze caused the roof of a 300 sq m workshop to collapse, while a team of 64 firefighters took an hour to put it out, Russian media reported.
Elsewhere, local authorities in eastern Ukraine reported a car bomb in Russian-occupied Luhansk has killed a pro-kremlin official. Russia’s Investigative Committee has opened an investigation into a “terrorist act”, while Valery Chaika, a Luhansk official, has been named as the victim.
Several Moscow-installed officials in eastern Ukraine have been killed by pro-kyiv forces since the war began.