War in Ukraine. Forbes: Why Are Ukraine’s Bradleys and Abrams Fighting Pointless Battles Around Tiny Russian Border Village?

October 26 on or before October 26 A trio of the Ukrainian military’s top American vehicles — a pair of M-2 Bradley fighting vehicles and an M-1 Abrams tank — drove into Russian fortifications south of the small village of Novy Put in western Russia’s Kursk region, Forbes reporter David Axe writes. me

With a Ukrainian drone watching from above, the Bradleys took the lead, taking cover from the smoke and firing 25mm autocannons and TOW anti-tank missiles. Abrams followed, adding weight to the fast attack.

Returning Russian fire, the three vehicles drove towards a Russian-controlled massif of trees north of the border. The reduction in shelling of Russian positions, as seen in videos taken by drones and Ukrainian vehicle crews, is telling: the Ukrainians have won this engagement.

But what was the point, asks D.Axe. He notes that New Put is 250 miles from the epicenter of Russia’s 33-month-long war against Ukraine in Kurakhov, in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region. While the Ukrainian military’s elite 47th Mechanized Brigade — Ukraine’s only M-2 and M-1 user — is winning pointless battles outside a Russian border village, the battered 79th Assault Brigade of the Ukrainian Air Force is barely holding on to a defensive line in the town of Ilinka, six miles to the south. from Kurachova.

AFP/”Scanpix” photo/Ukrainian soldiers near Kurakhove

If Illinka collapses, it is likely that Kurachov will also collapse. If Kurakhov falls, the Russians will be able to concentrate half a dozen Ukrainian brigades in the southern Donetsk region. Ukrainian journalist Stanislav Aseyev’s term “sack” is a classic battlefield tactic used by the Russian military in Ukraine in recent months with devastating effect.

“The Russians continue to successfully use the ‘bag’ tactics, bypassing our positions on three sides and leaving a narrow ‘throat’ for retreat. As a result, even in combat-ready units, the panic of encirclement often begins, which leads to the withdrawal of soldiers”, explained S. Asejev.

If the Ukrainians lose southern Donetsk, they may have no choice but to make a desperate last stand in Pokrovsk, a fortress town 17 miles north of Kurakhovo. If they lose Pokrovsk, their entire defensive line in eastern Ukraine could collapse.

In the east, the stakes are huge, and in the Kursk region, the stakes are ambiguous at best. A strong Ukrainian force, with many of Kiev’s best foreign-made vehicles, invaded Kursk in early August and quickly occupied hundreds of square miles; the recent raid by the 47th Mechanized Brigade is a continuation of this major Ukrainian effort.

AP/Scanpix/Ukrainian forces in the Kursk region

The invasion was an impressive tactical achievement by Ukrainian forces, but the broader strategic implications are unclear. If Ukraine sought to attract a large Russian force to Kursk in order to reduce Russian forces in eastern Ukraine, it failed – Russia could counterattack in Kursk without slowing its offensive in Donetsk.

If Ukraine seeks to keep part of Kursk in order to exchange it for parts of Russian-occupied Ukraine in future peace talks, it is apparently betting that it will not lose more Ukrainian territory to the invasion than it will gain in possible negotiations. It’s not a safe bet.

Weighing the undisputed value of Illinka, Kurakhov and Pokrovsk against the disputed value of Kursk, at least one Ukrainian military official questioned the wisdom of continuing Ukrainian operations in the latter city.

“It is very difficult to accept and realize the benefits of being here in the fields of the Kursk region when cities are being lost,” wrote Kriegsforcher, a Ukrainian drone operator. By that logic, those Bradleys and Abrams fighting in Kursk should be in eastern Ukraine to help stop the ongoing Russian offensive.