In a recent update from the Vuhledar direction, Russian forces executed powerful attacks aimed at eliminating the Ukrainian bridgehead, facing strategic challenges in terrain and mines, as Ukrainian defenders thwarted their attempts with geolocated footage revealing the destruction of at least 18 tanks and armored vehicles.
On November 12, there was a lot of updates from the Vuhledar direction – YouTube channel Reporting from Ukraine reports.
Here, Russian forces conducted a series of unexpectedly powerful attacks between Mykilske and Novomykhailivka, engaging dozens of tanks and armored fighting vehicles. The goal of these attacks was to eliminate the Ukrainian bridgehead. The reason behind the choice of these particular vectors of attack is twofold. First of all, the Ukrainian bridgehead is located on the tactical heights, making it difficult to attack directly. And secondly, these fields are densely mined, and due to the lack of activity in the area, the Russians do not have a good map of mines. In contrast, the activity around Vuhledar and Novomykhailivka was quite high over the last year, giving Russians at least some level of certainty as to where to move and what to expect.
The first attack took place northeast of Mykilske. The objective of the Russian assault unit was to push Ukrainians out of the proximate tree lines, establish control over the fields, and move closer to the road. Unfortunately for Russians, Mykilske is too small and too close to the front line to hide significant amounts of forces, which is why the assault unit was sent from the south and had to travel through the open fields.
Ukrainian reconnaissance drone operators detected a huge Russian column in advance, and thanks to the rapid response by the fighters from the seventy-second mechanized brigade, the Russians lost the element of surprise and started incurring losses before they even passed Mykilske.
Geolocated footage shows that Ukrainians destroyed the third vehicle from the head of the column, immobilizing the remaining vehicles behind it. One vehicle even turned around and started moving back to the settlement. However, Ukrainian fighters did not allow them to leave the battleground, and they were destroyed with artillery. Two vehicles from behind realized that they were moving alone into the field, turned around, and started fleeing as well. The video also shows that an armored fighting vehicle closer to the middle of the column got stuck, causing the approaching tanks behind it to concentrate in a very small area. The Ukrainians opened devastating fire, and the Russian tanks started exploding one by one. As a result, the whole assault unit was demolished, and the Russians lost at least 18 tanks and armored fighting vehicles, never leaving the settlement. Technically speaking, the area around the destroyed farm is within the administrative borders of Mykilske.
Nonetheless, Russian forces did not accept the defeat and started preparing the second assault unit for the same attack. Two days later, the Russians finally made a new attempt to penetrate the front line. Unfortunately for Russians, since the setting remained the same, Ukrainians once again detected Russians before they even passed Mykilske and started shelling Russians intensely. As a result, the Russian assault unit lost its combat capability, never getting to storm Ukrainian trenches and fortifications along the tree lines. Some Russian sources claimed that the Russian infantry continued the assault and managed to entrench in the tree lines around 100 or 200 meters from the settlement, which was previously considered a gray zone.
Virtually simultaneously, Russian forces opened the second vector of attack near Novomykhailivka. Here, Russian forces advanced along the gully, also in an attempt to get as close to the road as possible and cut off the Ukrainian bridgehead from the north. By advancing in the lowlands, the Russians were leveraging the terrain to reduce the chance of being detected for as long as possible. This way, the Russians managed to pass more than 1 km behind the front line. Still, the assault unit was detected by Ukrainian drone operators equipped with night vision. Interestingly, the artillery did not fire as quickly.
Some analysts claimed that the drone operator knew that Russians were approaching a minefield and waited until they immobilized themselves. Very quickly, the first vehicle suffered an explosion on mine, and a few seconds later, the next one as well. Immediately after that, Ukrainian artillery started shelling the assault unit. As a result, it was completely demolished, and all four vehicles were left destroyed in the field.
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