Ukrainian Force's Complete Capture of Urozhaine Is Confirmed

Russian and Ukrainian sources have now confirmed that Ukrainian forces have taken all of Urozhaine. 

The implication is that Russian defenses can be breached using intelligence, patience and then direct assaults with committed troops. JL 

Marc Santora reports in the New York Times:

Ukrainian forces have retaken Urozhaine, moving farther into the Mokri Yaly River Valley. The Russian Vostok battalion, which took part in the battle, confirmed, “We lost Urozhaine.” Retaking the village, in the Donetsk region, means Ukraine now holds positions on both banks of the river, opening up more options as its forces advance farther south. Kyiv’s goal is to reach the Sea of Azov and drive a wedge into the land bridge between mainland Russia and occupied Crimea. If Ukrainian forces can move deep enough into Russian-controlled territory to put supply lines at risk of direct artillery fire, they (will) make Russia’s defensive positions untenable.

Ukrainian forces have retaken the tiny village of Urozhaine, moving farther into the Mokri Yaly River Valley in the south of the country, after more than a week of battling Russian troops, as Kyiv pushed on with a grinding counteroffensive that has struggled to break through entrenched Russian lines.

“Urozhaine has been liberated,” Hanna Malyar, a Ukrainian deputy defense minister, said in a statement on Wednesday, one day after Russian forces said they had retreated from the village.

The Russian Vostok battalion, which took part in the battle, confirmed in a statement on Tuesday, “We lost Urozhaine.”

It is the first village known to have been recaptured by Kyiv’s forces since they reclaimed Staromaiorske in July. As with other territory Ukraine has recaptured, it is retaking control of a village decimated by war: Urozhaine had a population of fewer than 1,000 people before Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Retaking the village, which is in the Donetsk region, means Ukraine now holds positions on both banks of the river, opening up more options as its forces try to advance on Russian strongholds farther south. Kyiv’s goal is to reach the Sea of Azov and drive a wedge into the so-called land bridge between mainland Russia and occupied Crimea, a link that is vital to Moscow’s supply routes to the west.

If Ukrainian forces can move deep enough into Russian-controlled territory to put supply lines at risk of direct artillery fire, they hope to make Russia’s defensive positions untenable.

The fact that progress in Kyiv’s slow-going counteroffensive is now measured by the recapture of small villages reinforces how difficult the fighting has become. Col. Petro Chernyk said at a news briefing held by the Ukrainian military on Tuesday that the Russians had set up formidable defenses across southern Ukraine, with the first line covered by minefields stretching for miles, a second line filled with artillery and troops, and a third line bolstered by rear positions meant to preserve resources.

 

But Kyiv’s forces have dug in for a long and brutal fight. After penetrating Russia’s defenses and claiming Urozhaine, the Ukrainians were driving east, toward the village of Oktyabrskoye, Russia’s Vostok battalion said. “About seven units of armored vehicles, accompanied by infantry, are trying to find a new promising direction,” the battalion said.