Over the last few hours, Ukrainian forces have been pushing hard and have breached some of the extensive Russian defenses.
Naturally, in their advance, the Ukrainian forces are taking casualties, but the equipment provided by the West continues to save precious lives.
Significant Progress in the Ukraine War by Kyiv
The Ukrainian forces are making significant progress in southern Ukraine. The Institute for the Study War assessed in its latest operational estimate of the war that Ukrainian forces have made significant tactical advances in the western part of the Zaporizhzhia Oblast.
More specifically, Ukrainian light infantry has breached the first lines of Russian fortifications and is advancing south of Robotyne. Ukrainian troops are advancing beyond anti-tank obstacles and are paving the way for heavy mechanized forces.
The Russian forces are likely to counterattack, as is their norm in such cases, in an attempt to push the Ukrainian infantry back and prevent heavy weaponry, such as main battle tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, and armored personnel carriers, from advancing.
If they continue at this pace, the Ukrainian forces will soon reach the second main Russian line of defense. Breaching it will be crucial for the success of the counteroffensive. The goal, after all, is to achieve an operational breakthrough. And that can only happen if Kyiv concentrates enough forces in an area to overcome the Russian defenders and their fortifications.
Russian Casualties and Ukraine’s Western Systems
Meanwhile, on day 559 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Russian forces continued to take significant casualties.
Over the past 24 hours, the Russian military and pro-Russian separatist forces in the Donbas lost almost 600 men killed, wounded, or captured as well as about 80 heavy weapon systems and vehicles. The Russian forces continue to lose a large number of artillery pieces and multiple launch rocket systems every day, further degrading their long-range fires capabilities.
Overall, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense claimed that as of Tuesday, Ukrainian forces have killed and wounded approximately 265,680 Russian troops, destroyed 322 fighter, attack, bomber, and transport jets, 316 attack and transport helicopters, 4,489 tanks, 5,649 artillery pieces, 8,670 armored personnel carriers, and infantry fighting vehicles, 747 Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (MLRS), 18 boats and cutters, 8,175 vehicles, and fuel tanks, 504 anti-aircraft batteries, 4,512 tactical unmanned aerial systems, 851 special equipment platforms, such as bridging vehicles, and four mobile Iskander ballistic missile systems, and 1,447 cruise missiles shot down by the Ukrainian air defenses.
Of course, the Ukrainian forces are also taking casualties in the fighting. But the heavy weapon systems provided to the Ukrainian forces by the West are making the difference. In the last days, the Russian military managed to destroy one British-made Challenger 2 main battle tank. However, all of the Ukrainian crewmembers survived, and they can now continue to fight and share their operational experience. And that is one of the main intentions behind Western military aid. Weapon systems are expendable, but troops aren’t, and experienced soldiers are particularly important and can bring a lot on the battlefield.
A 19FortyFive Defense and National Security Columnist, Stavros Atlamazoglou is a seasoned defense journalist specializing in special operations and a Hellenic Army veteran (national service with the 575th Marine Battalion and Army HQ). He holds a BA from the Johns Hopkins University, an MA from the Johns Hopkins’ School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), and is pursuing a J.D. at Boston College Law School. His work has been featured in Business Insider, Sandboxx, and SOFREP.
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