Russian troops have suffered one of their bloodiest defeats in recent weeks on the eastern front of Ukraine. In their attempt to break through the Ukrainian defensive lines near Dobropillia, dozens of soldiers fell into a lethal trap of barbed wire and mines, being exposed to enemy fire in the open field. They show a Dantesque scenario: bodies tangled between wire fences and destroyed vehicles in a devastated landscape.
According to Ukrainian military sourcesRussian forces launched repeated assaults in the Novotoretske areatrying to help its own units surrounded and without supplies. However, the Ukrainian defensive lines, reinforced for months, turned the terrain into a veritable field of death. Rescue attempts turned into suicide operations, without achieving significant progress.
The most dramatic episode took place when the Russians, finding themselves unable to break through the fortifications, They blew up an ammonia pipeline, releasing a toxic cloud which affected both his own and Ukrainian troops. The gesture, described by analysts as an “act of desperation,” sought to open a gap in the defensive line, but only added chaos and casualties to the disaster.
The calls “extermination zones”as the Ukrainians themselves define them, are made up of rows of dragon teeth, deep trenches and extensive cords of barbed wire. Any attempt to cross them is detected from the air by droneswho attack with precision before the soldiers can advance a few meters.
The Russian failure was not due to lack of insistence: On the first day of attacks on Volodymyrivka alone, they sent 16 armored vehicles in several waves. The first group, of seven vehicles, was destroyed before reaching the town; Three hours later, a second attempt with tanks and motorcycles ended in the same way, with the armor stuck between metal defenses or burning under Ukrainian fire.
Morale among the Russian ranks sinks as rescue attempts turn into predictable massacres. The commanders, according to sources from the front, face pressure from Moscow to make up groundeven at the cost of massive losses. What began as an operation to free his encircled men has ended up being a death trap of his own design.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces maintain control of the fortified area, demonstrating that the combination of defensive engineering, drone intelligence and strategic patience can slow down—and decimate—a numerically superior enemy.
