**Russia’s Toretsk Offensive Turns into Disaster**
Russian forces have suffered a major setback in their bid to capture the Ukrainian city of Toretsk. The poorly planned offensive has turned disastrous for them as Ukrainian forces, with higher ground advantage, have destroyed the Russian attackers.
The battle for Toretsk and its surrounding settlements has proven exceptionally difficult for Russia. The urban combat dynamics have allowed Ukrainian forces to slow down the Russian advance over the past six months. The Russians have suffered unsustainable daily casualties – up to 100 per day – during their attempts to secure the town.
**Shift to the Southern Flank**
The Russian attempt to flank the town from the north ended in failure, leaving them with only one option: the southern flank. Their plan was to push north of Niu-York along the Kryvyi Torets River toward Shcherbynivka. Capturing the village would enable the Russians to launch flanking attacks on Toretsk and weaken Ukrainian defenses.
However, this puts Russian forces in a precarious position as they are stuck in lowlands with Ukrainians holding higher ground. The Russian advance has been met with devastating tank raids from Ukrainian forces.
**Russian Assaults and Ukrainian Counterattacks**
Despite their tactical disadvantages, the Russian commanders decided to initiate attacks on the southern flank. However, these assaults were thwarted by Ukrainian drone operators who quickly detected and eliminated Russian units trying to infiltrate through Ukrainian lines. Additionally, Ukrainians preemptively countered Russian assaults by launching tank raids on Russian forces gathering in tree lines.
Combat footage shows how T-64BV tanks effectively identified Russian positions and fired on them with their main guns, destroying the Russian force’s concentrations. These tank raids proved highly successful, thwarting larger Russian assaults.
**Conclusion**
The Russians launched a poorly planned counterattack on the southern flank of Toretsk, hoping to encircle the city from the south. However, they ended up placing their troops in a semi-encirclement themselves, due to Ukrainian fire control and subsequent tank raids. The Russians also do not have available reserves to properly intensify their assaults.
As the insufficient number of reserves does not allow Russians to maintain an overwhelming force in the area, Ukrainians are launching precision counterattacks to strike Russian efforts where they are weakest.