Druzhba was a Russian-occupied area in Ukraine. Ukrainian drone operators modified hexacopters in order to deliver TM62 antitank mines on Russian-occupied buildings. They destroyed fortified positions in advance of ground forces moving in.
Day 990
On 9 November there are many interesting updates coming from the Toretsk area.
After months of intense combat, the Russians stopped their assaults in order to reorganize their forces and rest from intense fighting which brought little or no territorial gains.
The Ukrainians took advantage of this opportunity to launch a significant counterattack on the Russian flanks.
Russian forces had earlier lost key positions in Tetk’s central high-rise zone, which prompted them to shift their focus from offensive to defensive. The Russian command, however, struggled to establish the defensive line on time because their troops needed to recover and regroup before resuming their operations.
This situation forced the Russian command, to prioritise the deployment of the remaining combat-ready troops to the most intense battle areas, specifically the R Central Highrises district and the Zala District in the South. This decision, while it helped to preserve the Russian position in critical areas, left gaps in the defences of regions that had seen less recent activity.
Only a small Russian infantry unit remained in Druzhba where only skirmishes had taken place between reconnaissance groups. The majority of forces were concentrated within Toretks’s zones. Druzhba was a strategic area that offered Russians the opportunity to stage an encirclement of Tetk. The dense forest near an elevated railway embankment provides an effective route for bypassing Ukrainian defenses and threatening a semi-encirclement.
Recognizing this fact, Ukrainian forces decided that they would exploit the weakening of Russian defenses at Druba. Before launching an offensive, Ukrainian forces used a large number specialized drones that were modified for bombing missions. Ukrainian drone operators use heavy hexacopters in Druzhba to drop TM62 Anti-tank Mines. These mines were carried by hexacopters and proved to be highly effective in destroying fortified Russian positions, such as houses.
This tactic was successful in demolishing the majority of structures in Druzhba and forcing the Russians into improvised defences around a few trenches. Ukrainian operators simultaneously used drones to drop high-explosive, smaller grenades onto exposed Russian fighters in ruined houses. This ended any remaining resistance. These coordinated strikes overpowered the unprepared Russians, causing severe losses.
After Russian positions were severely weakened, Ukrainian troops launched a night attack to retake Druzhba’s northern part. The Ukrainian Storm Troopers were able to move undetected under the cover of darkness, thanks to dense tree lines.
The Ukrainian forces, hidden in the trees, surprised the Russian defenders who were outnumbered and could not see them until they entered town. The Russians were stationed inside residential houses that had been destroyed by Ukrainian artillery strikes and drone strikes. They had no solid defensive positions.
Russian forces were forced out of the area due to the intensity of the Ukrainian offensive and insufficient defenses. The Ukrainians were able to recapture the northern part Druba and create a new axis for advance, further straining Russian reserves.
The Russian army’s expansion and the lack of combat-ready troops has led to the growth of Ukrainian counterattacks, and their territorial gains in the weakest points of Russian defence.
These Ukrainian gains forced Russia to deploy additional reserve forces to this section of front, further stretching its defense. The Russians will lose positions in Toretsk if they cannot effectively defend the entire front line in Druzhba, due to the increased pressure on them.
In our daily frontline reports, we team up with the military blog Reporting from Ukraine in order to keep you updated on what’s happening on the battlefield during the Russo Ukrainian war.
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