Russia intensifies attacks on Chasiv Yar, employing heavy armor
The Russian Federation is attacking Chasiv Yar with tanks, armoured vehicles, and assault aircraft - confirmed on Monday by Oleg Kalsznikov, the press spokesman for the 26th Artillery Brigade. He added that the Russian troops "are trying to succeed" by storming in two directions.
Kalsznikov listed the enemy's active use of not only infantry assault attacks but also armoured equipment, such as armoured cars and tanks. In his opinion, the attacks were repelled, and the units of the occupying forces were forced to withdraw to their previous positions.
Russians struck their soldiers
He reported that yesterday, Russian aircraft attacked Russian soldiers retreating to their previous positions. The likely cause of the friendly fire could have been a mistaken belief about the presence of Ukrainian units on that line.
"Russia seems to have managed to overcome the losses in personnel so far, and during recent attacks in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine used more mechanized equipment", - wrote the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) on Saturday.
Analysts report that although the acceleration of recent Russian offensive operations in Ukraine "will likely lead to increased losses in personnel and equipment," the Ministry of Defense in Moscow "seems to have been able to mitigate these losses."
As reported by the think tank, the Russians conducted several mechanized attacks in the Donetsk region last week, including near the towns of Chasiv Yar, Terny, Berdychi, Semeniwka, and Tonenke.
The analysts assess that "the previous model of Russian attacks led by infantry did not engage armoured vehicles on a wider scale, at the cost of increased personnel losses. Russia seems to have effectively used the ongoing crypto mobilization to make up for the growing losses in personnel".
Russians storming Chasiv Yar
On Friday, Russian media, citing local occupation authorities, reported that Russian troops moved into the suburbs of Chasiv Yar. - The Ukrainian military spokesman said that the fighting continues, but the Russians have not entered the city's outskirts.
The situation there is very difficult, battles are ongoing, but they (Russians) are not there, and (...) do not believe Russian information,—said Reuters Andriy Zadubinny, a spokesman for the eastern command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Chasiv Yar is located about 10 kilometres west of Bakhmut, along the road to Konstantynówka. From there, a series of smaller towns leads to Kramatorsk and Sloviansk—important centres of the Donetsk region remaining under Ukrainian control. The town is strongly fortified and houses an important garrison of the Ukrainian military.
