The mission for the Ukrainian unit was to take a single house, in a village that is only a speck on the map but was serving as a stronghold for Russian soldiers. Andriy, a veteran marine, had waited for three days with his small assault team — none of whom had seen combat before — as other Ukrainian units crawled through minefields, stormed trenches and cleared a path to the farming village of Urozhaine. Finally, one day last month, the order came to move.
They raced to a predetermined location in an armoured personnel carrier, and disembarked as explosions and gunfire rattled the ground beneath their feet, Andriy and members of his unit said. Driving out or killing the remaining Russians, they secured the house as night fell, posting guards and reviewing the day’s tactics to see how they might improve. In the morning, the new order came: Take another house.
The monthslong campaign to breach heavily fortified Russian lines is being conducted in many domains and in many forms of battle, with artillery duels and drone strikes across the breadth of the front in southern Ukraine. But the engine driving the effort are hundreds of smallscale assault groups, often just eight to 10 soldiers, each tasked with attacking a single trench, tree line or house.
In this tactical approach, small villages loom large. They line paved roads, facilitating transport, and the buildings, even those ravaged by shelling, provide a measure of cover. The Russians are using them as strongholds; Urozhaine, for instance, was ringed by two trench lines and a maze of tunnels that allowed Russian troops to shoot in one location, then pop up somewhere else.
It’s a hard way to fight a war — village by village, house by house — with no guarantee of success. Once taken and secured, the surviving Russian fortifications provide a base for the Ukrainians to plot their next move forward.
This has been the pattern for Ukraine as it tries to move along two north-south routes toward the Sea of Azov, looking for a place to break through and sever the socalled land bridge between Russia and occupied Crimea.
To the West, Ukrainian forces have been pushing on the path that leads toward Melitopol; having secured the key village of Robotyne, they were fighting fiercely this week at the village of Verbove, the next step in the advance. On Friday, the Ukrainian military said it had pushed 3 1/2 miles beyond Robotyne, and John Kirby, the White House National Security Council spokesperson, said Ukraine had made “notable progress” in the preceding 72 hours.
Urozhaine lies on a route farther east, along a small rural road that leads to Mariupol on the southern coast.
The battle over the village would last nine days, with the Russians finally retreating Aug. 19 under a hail of Ukrainian artillery fire. It was a small but necessary step.
There are still some 60 miles of hard road ahead for the Ukrainians before they can reach the coast, and at least one more heavily fortified Russian defensive line in their way. The Russians are resisting fiercely, protected by entrenched positions, minefields and air superiority. The marines expect the fight to be bloody and slow.
They raced to a predetermined location in an armoured personnel carrier, and disembarked as explosions and gunfire rattled the ground beneath their feet, Andriy and members of his unit said. Driving out or killing the remaining Russians, they secured the house as night fell, posting guards and reviewing the day’s tactics to see how they might improve. In the morning, the new order came: Take another house.
The monthslong campaign to breach heavily fortified Russian lines is being conducted in many domains and in many forms of battle, with artillery duels and drone strikes across the breadth of the front in southern Ukraine. But the engine driving the effort are hundreds of smallscale assault groups, often just eight to 10 soldiers, each tasked with attacking a single trench, tree line or house.
In this tactical approach, small villages loom large. They line paved roads, facilitating transport, and the buildings, even those ravaged by shelling, provide a measure of cover. The Russians are using them as strongholds; Urozhaine, for instance, was ringed by two trench lines and a maze of tunnels that allowed Russian troops to shoot in one location, then pop up somewhere else.
It’s a hard way to fight a war — village by village, house by house — with no guarantee of success. Once taken and secured, the surviving Russian fortifications provide a base for the Ukrainians to plot their next move forward.
This has been the pattern for Ukraine as it tries to move along two north-south routes toward the Sea of Azov, looking for a place to break through and sever the socalled land bridge between Russia and occupied Crimea.
To the West, Ukrainian forces have been pushing on the path that leads toward Melitopol; having secured the key village of Robotyne, they were fighting fiercely this week at the village of Verbove, the next step in the advance. On Friday, the Ukrainian military said it had pushed 3 1/2 miles beyond Robotyne, and John Kirby, the White House National Security Council spokesperson, said Ukraine had made “notable progress” in the preceding 72 hours.
Urozhaine lies on a route farther east, along a small rural road that leads to Mariupol on the southern coast.
The battle over the village would last nine days, with the Russians finally retreating Aug. 19 under a hail of Ukrainian artillery fire. It was a small but necessary step.
There are still some 60 miles of hard road ahead for the Ukrainians before they can reach the coast, and at least one more heavily fortified Russian defensive line in their way. The Russians are resisting fiercely, protected by entrenched positions, minefields and air superiority. The marines expect the fight to be bloody and slow.
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