https://x.com/AndrewPerpetua/status/184 ... 4ks4Q&s=19
Russia has attacked Vuhledar several times over the past two years, but this current attack began on September 25th, 2023, when Russia launched its full-scale attack on Novomykhailivka. Ukraine fended off the attack for nearly 7 months but ultimately lost the town on April 21st, almost entirely due to airstrikes that annihilated it. During the assault on Novomykhailivka, which Russia saw as one of its primary objectives last winter, Ukraine destroyed well over 300 Russian vehicles during the primary assault and probably another 300 during secondary and tertiary assaults.
Next came the battle for Kostyantynivka, which lasted several more months before Russia managed to break into the middle of the village. Ukraine ultimately decided to withdraw from its defense of the western part of the town on August 27th, and this withdrawal, I believe, was the beginning of the end for Vuhledar. It started a chain reaction.
During the battle for Kostyantynivka, Russia began to push toward Vodiane. They made it near the highway by the time Ukraine retreated from Kostyantynivka, but almost a week before Ukraine left Kostyantynivka, Russia managed to capture the trench line defending the highway. These events were so close in time that they were not a coincidence. I think either Ukraine decided to withdraw from the highway because of Kostyantynivka or they decided to withdraw from Kostyantynivka because of the highway. I don't know which.
Regardless, also running concurrently with the primary assaults on Kostyantynivka, Russia began a massive air campaign on Prechystivka. I tried to raise alarm bells on this several times; it was highly concerning and reminded me of their behavior in Novomykhailivka. After many months of near-continuous airstrikes, Russia launched a large and pretty sudden assault on the town beginning on August 26th, capturing it on September 3rd, ultimately collapsing the western flank of Vuhledar and pushing across the Kashlahach River in multiple places with large numbers of troops in each instance.
Losing Kostyantynivka and the highway near Vodiane made defending Vuhledar extremely questionable; losing these river crossings made it practically impossible. The fact that all three occurred within 17 days, after many months of preparation and planning, shows how coordinated the attack on Vuhledar was.
Then came the capture of Vodiane itself (around September 8th,9th,10th) and, quickly after that, the capture or partial capture of both mines (September 9th and 15th) near Vuhledar, thus completing a near encirclement that ended any prospect for the defense of the city. And, of course, Russia captured Vuhledar on October 1st.
This well-planned, multiphase attack on Vuhledar lasted roughly 1 year + 1 week. During this time, Russia implemented new (for them) ideas for breaking through Ukrainian defenses, iterated on those ideas, and learned from its mistakes. I expect them to follow this same basic format going forward, with further iterations designed to reduce their casualties and losses.
Russia cannot survive more Novomykhailivkas, but they can do Prechystivkas forever. And that is a real problem.
Suuresti Vuhledari langemine oli samuti võlts eduraportitest edastatuna tingitud..kõik rünnakud tagasi löödud, samas igapäevaga edeneti tiibadelt.