On October 2nd, the focus of developments in Ukraine was on the Pokrovsk direction. The approaching rainy season threatened to turn the fields into muddy terrain, prompting the Russians to launch hasty attacks before it was too late.
The Ukrainians took advantage of these rushed assaults to inflict heavy losses on the Russian forces and buy themselves time to strengthen their main stronghold. The Russians’ main objective in this direction was to capture the strategically important city of Pokrovsk, which served as a crucial logistics hub for the Ukrainian forces in Donetsk.
However, before the Russians could begin their storming operation, they had to overcome the last town in the Selydove-Novohrodivka-Hrodivka defense line to protect their flanks from Ukrainian counterattacks.
Initially, the Russian plan was to take Selydove in a swift frontal assault, but they were met with constant Ukrainian counterattacks. As the Ukrainians had also reinforced the area, the Russians were unable to breach Selydove and had to change their tactics.
Their new approach involved attacking Selydove from the north and opening a new front from Novohrodivka. In response, the Ukrainians conducted lone tank raids to counter the Russian flanking maneuver. These raids targeted Russian assault groups moving through the tree lines and engaged them with high-explosive shells.
Despite the Russian claims of controlling the village of Marynivka, geolocated footage proved otherwise, showing that Ukrainian positions were holding strong against their attacks. This undermined the entire Russian flanking operation and forced them to continue their repeated assaults on Marynivka to complete their maneuver from the north.
As the autumn rainy season approached, the fields in eastern Ukraine would soon become muddy, making rapid mechanized maneuvers nearly impossible. This meant that the Russians were running out of time to capture Selydove and continue their advance towards Pokrovsk.
It becomes clear why the Russians were so determined to take Marynivka as soon as possible. Ukrainian soldiers in the village reported simultaneous attacks from all three sides, making it difficult for them to defend. The Russians suffered heavy casualties as they rushed large groups of infantry over open roads towards the settlement. Ukrainian forces even shared geolocated footage of nearly 50 dead Russian bodies on one road, showing the intensity of their “meat wave” tactics.
These tactics allowed the Russians to surround the Ukrainians from all sides, forcing them to eventually withdraw from the area.
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