Yes, some are trying to make a big deal that Putin’s forces killed Western tanks and armor over the last few days.
And yet, clearly, Russian forces have lost territory due to Ukraine’s big offensive.
And for the world, we can watch it all unfold on social media.
Smashing the Russian Lines – Ukrainian 35th Marine Brigade Shared Footage of Frontline Action
Kyiv’s efforts to downplay its counteroffensive operations have been seen to offer Moscow an edge in the war of information – and the Ukrainian government had sought to limit what was being shared by those on the frontlines to social media.
In advance of the long-awaited offensive, the Ukrainian military had renewed its plea for operational silence.
However, this week units of the Ukrainian 35th Marine Brigade were in full “propaganda” mode as videos highlighted the efforts to liberate the settlement of Makarivka in the Donetsk Oblast.
A number of short clips were posted to Twitter by open-source intelligence analysts OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) that showed the Ukrainian forces striking at Russian positions.
“A Ukrainian tank fires a 125mm HE shell into a roadside Russian position,” captions one of the videos. While another appears to show A Russian Kamaz Typhoon, bizarrely trying to drive headlong into Ukrainian forces,” as it “is ambushed at short range by a Ukrainian soldier with an AT weapon.” A column of Ukrainian MRAPs, lead by a single tank, can also be seen entering the western part of Makarivka in yet another clip.
Liberation Efforts
Ukrainian forces took control of the town on Tuesday, as part of the offensive operations in the Donetsk region.
It was part of a broader attack along the front, and during the week, Ukrainian forces advanced 6.5 km (4 miles) and recaptured territory in Lobkove, Levadne, Novodarivka, Neskuchne, Storozheve, Makarivka, Blagodatne, Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said on Monday via the Telegram social messaging app.
It was also on Monday that the 35th Marine Brigade released a video of it forces flying the Ukrainian flag in the nearby village of Storozheve.
Ukraine’s Hard Fighting Unit
The 35th Separate Brigade of the Marines, which is named to honor Rear Admiral Mykhailo Ostrogradsky who was of Ukrainian Cossack ancestry and was also one of the leading mathematicians of Imperial Russia, was first raised on May 24, 2018. It took part in the liberation of the occupied city of Kherson last year.
As David Axe of Forbes reported, the 35th Marine Brigade has “borrowed” a tactic from the U.S. Army that was employed in the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq where the U.S. forces rolled ahead of a larger attack on Baghdad. The so-called “thunder run” confused and demoralized the defenders, and possibly even preempted a block-by-block battle for the city. The same tactics are now being employed by the Ukrainian unit, which has liberated several villages.
There is a lot in the video. A Ukrainian tank fires a 125mm HE shell into a roadside Russian position at (47.782475, 36.794370) pic.twitter.com/QL7Aaj8dnc
— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) June 13, 2023
“Speed and shock are key,” Axe also noted, but also stressed that the 35th Marine Brigade is attacking along one of the more lightly-fortified axes. However, it is important to note that it is also just one of several units that have already smashed through Russian defenses – countering the Kremlin’s claim that the Ukrainian offensive has been stopped cold.
It is also likely that more attacks by the bulk of Ukraine’s forces are yet to come.
Author Experience and Expertise
A Senior Editor for 19FortyFive, Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer. He has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers, and websites with over 3,200 published pieces over a twenty-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a Contributing Writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu.
