Nice! Massive Russian Assault OBLITERATED IN SECONDS.

Today, there are a lot of interesting updates from the Pokrovsk direction.

Here, Russians attempted to launch a surprise all-infantry assault of over 70 soldiers, hoping that the dense fog would conceal their movements. However, with advanced detection capabilities, Ukrainians showed restraint, waiting till Russians had bunched up all of their troops on a narrow bridge before unleashing a hellish barrage of artillery shells on the completely unaware Russian soldiers. 

The main goal of Russian forces is to take control of the village of Uspenivka. By this, Russians are attempting to undercut Ukrainian positions in Udachne, to open up a new vector of assault, and to overcome their lack of progress on the western flank of Pokrovsk. Taking Uspenivka first will also allow them to secure the flank of their northern vector, decreasing the risky nature of their open-field assaults. To accomplish this, Russians are launching pure infantry assaults to dislodge Ukrainian defenders. 

To launch their large attacks, Russians are trying to accumulate large infantry groups in the nearby village of Novovasylivka, using the proximity to Uspenivka to their advantage. As Russians severely outnumber Ukrainians, they plan to completely overwhelm the defenders in Uspenivka through sheer numbers, as their growing lack of armor forces Russians to rely evermore on pure infantry assaults. To avoid Ukrainian detection, Russians are also increasingly relying on foggy weather conditions to move small infantry groups together and slowly accumulate a much larger assault force for their attacks. 

However, Ukrainians are cleverly countering this Russian tactic by using drones equipped with thermal cameras for when the fog gets too dense to see through, as thermal signatures are much more visible during thick fog than what can be seen with the naked eye or normal camera.  Ukrainians had also prepared powerful fortifications in and around Uspenivka. With Russians taking close to a month to capture the town of Novovasylivka, even having to deploy elite Spetsnaz special forces units to break the stagnation, Ukrainians had ample time to build up their defenses in the next settlement over. On top of that, the Russian attack was complicated by a small river branch creating extremely marshy terrain between Uspenivka and Novovasylivka, creating a single crossing point, on which Ukrainians could focus their fire, which Ukrainians heavily patrolled with their new and improved reconnaissance drones. 

Combat footage from the area reveals that during a standard drone patrol, a Ukrainian drone spotted a small group of Russian soldiers moving towards a barn in Uspenivka. Curious, Ukrainians held off on conducting a strike, and waited to see if more would show up, eventually counting over 70 Russian soldiers all gathered together in the hangar. Meanwhile, Russians waited until the fog got thicker before moving in a massive column toward Ukrainian positions, unaware of the fact that they had long been detected. As the Ukrainians had held off on calling in a strike, Ukrainian artillery crews were able to prepare a full barrage on the single bridge that Russians could use to cross, as soon as they started their attack. Ukrainians rained down hell on the still bunched-up Russian soldiers, who did not disperse until it was far too late. Ukrainians fired both conventional and cluster munitions on the Russian soldiers, tearing through the Russian infantry wave. After the large mass was dealt with, Ukrainians continued hunting down the remaining Russian soldiers with FPV kamikaze drones and drone-dropped grenades, making sure that none were left alive to continue the attack. 

In the end, Russians had been overconfident that the fog would completely conceal their movements, while Ukrainians went out of their way to adjust to the Russian tactic. This overconfidence led to the complete destruction of the Russian assault group by Ukrainian precision fire and cluster munitions. The continued failure of Russian forces to make any significant or rapid gains in this sector is already seeing significant consequences for the Russian offensive effort on Pokrovsk overall as they continue pouring in their reserves. With Ukrainians making sure that there were no Russian soldiers left alive to continue the attack, Russians will have to wait again till the weather conceals their movements, further delaying the Russian momentum while they are so desperate for a breakthrough. 

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