After Russia claimed to have taken full control of Luhansk Oblast in northeastern Ukraine, Ukrainian forces successfully blocked an enemy attack on Donetsk Oblast just to the south.
Video footage and images from the region showed Russian tanks being obliterated by Ukrainian artillery strikes.
Ukraine Weapons Tracker, a popular English-language social media account that tracks the use of weapons in the current Ukraine-Russia conflict, revealed how the Russian attack on Donetsk Oblast was stopped by Ukraine’s 79th Air Assault Brigade.
“Now that images from the ground have arrived, we can confirm that the Russian attack in #Donetsk Oblast that was foiled by the Ukrainian 79th Air Assault Brigade led to no less than 6 T-72B series tanks damaged or abandoned,” the account wrote on Friday.
Additional video footage, first shared on Telegram and later uploaded to various English-language Twitter accounts, shows how the engineering and artillery forces of the Ukrainian Army stopped a Russian tank attack. Among the Russian military vehicles destroyed in the foiled attack were at least two T80 or T-72 series tanks.
The footage, recorded from unmanned aerial vehicles, shows Russian tanks being completely destroyed as they maneuvered on the battlefield. Multiple strikes are seen in the video, showing the Russian tanks being struck by missiles in quick succession and left burning.
#Ukraine: Now that images from the ground have arrived, we can confirm that the Russian attack in #Donetsk Oblast that was foiled by the Ukrainian 79th Air Assault Brigade led to no less than 6 T-72B series tanks damaged or abandoned. https://t.co/57c8R4X9If pic.twitter.com/NLyuhMxWfc
— ?? Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) July 8, 2022
Many more tanks are believed to have been abandoned in the region.
#Ukraine: Engineering and artillery forces of the Ukrainian army stopped a Russian tank attack in the East recently – at least two T-80/T-72 series tanks were destroyed with four more damaged and abandoned. pic.twitter.com/iv9rhbDM2J
— ?? Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) July 8, 2022
Ukraine Officials Warn Of “Catastrophe” In Severodonetsk
Ukrainian officials are warning of a “catastrophe” in Severodonetsk, a city to the north of Donetsk in Luhansk Oblast, where Russian soldiers are now in full defensive positions.
After being captured by Russian forces in June, the city is now reportedly on the “verge of a humanitarian catastrophe,” with Luhansk Governor Serhiy Haidai revealing how the Russians have destroyed all essential infrastructure.
“The Russians have completely destroyed all the critical infrastructure, and they are unable to repair anything” Haidai said, warning that civilians trapped in the region won’t have access to basic necessities.
“Water intakes need a supply of electricity to work,” Haidai explained, adding that generators simply can’t meet that demand. The Luhansk governor also warned that as many as 8,000 civilians remain trapped in Luhansk after Ukrainian forces were forced to withdraw from the region last week.
Dismissing claims that Russia now has full control over Luhansk Oblast, Haidai also claimed that Ukrainian forces were still fighting the invaders in two towns, but did not give their names.
With fewer resources required to defend Luhansk, Russian soldiers now have additional support in their efforts to take control of Donetsk Oblast to the south.
Jack Buckby is a British author, counter-extremism researcher, and journalist based in New York. Reporting on the U.K., Europe, and the U.S., he works to analyze and understand left-wing and right-wing radicalization, and reports on Western governments’ approaches to the pressing issues of today. His books and research papers explore these themes and propose pragmatic solutions to our increasingly polarized society.
