Russia destroys the headquarters of the 47th Brigade.

Russia's spectacular victory in the 'Dual Swords' operation, destroying the headquarters of the 47th Brigade, demonstrates its superior military strength.

Recently, a rare "combined attack" occurred on the Russian-Ukrainian battlefield, when the Russian Armed Forces (RFAF) used Iskander-M short-range tactical ballistic missiles and Tornado-S multiple rocket launcher systems to launch 9M544 guided missiles in a joint attack on Ukrainian targets in the village of Korovnitsi in the Sumy province.

To achieve their objectives and effectiveness while avoiding detection, the RFAF's current long-range attacks against the Ukrainian Armed Forces (AFU) are all aimed at achieving a quick victory. Generally, a single long-range strike is sufficient to eliminate a single target. Why was this "double-pronged" attack carried out this time?

It should be noted that both weapons are expensive, and even in life-or-death battles, the RFAF rarely uses them simultaneously. This time, they spared no expense, perhaps because the headquarters of the AFU's 47th Independent Mechanized Infantry Brigade is located in this village, about 100 km from the border.

The 47th Mechanized Infantry Brigade is a mobile reserve unit of the AFU General Staff, equipped to "NATO standards," and has participated in many major AFU counter-offensive operations from 2023 to the present. The areas where the unit is deployed are those with significant fighting; therefore, this unit is likely to intercept RFAF "priority" missiles, including both ballistic missiles and Tornado-S missiles.

Judging from the on-site attack video filmed by a drone, the RFAF achieved a major success this time. Four or five powerful explosions occurred within a radius of about 100 meters, "turning the command center and everything around it into dust." (Image of the target after the attack, taken by a Russian reconnaissance UAV).

The Russian Ministry of Defense stated that the attack resulted in the destruction of two communication antennas, a mobile communications center, and five vehicles; at least 25 Ukrainian soldiers were killed at the command post. There were also reports that the communications unit adjacent to the command post suffered 40 casualties. (Image of the target before the attack, taken by a Russian reconnaissance UAV).

If these losses are true, then the 47th Motorized Infantry Brigade has suffered a major blow this time. The information from the Russian side is even more shocking, claiming that this force "has been completely annihilated," including approximately 1,500 troops of the 47th Brigade carrying out an offensive mission in Belgorod, who were also completely wiped out by the RFAF.

However, the RFAF's combat reports may not be entirely accurate. Except for the AFU's 36th Marine Brigade, the only brigade-level unit to surrender during the 2022 siege of Mariupol, no brigade-level unit on either side of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict has been completely wiped out so far; at least according to publicly available and reliable sources.

Secondly, if Russian intelligence is accurate, it suggests that the 47th AFU Brigade has dispersed its forces; one section is fighting in the Sumy province, and the rest, perhaps at least a mechanized infantry battalion and a tank battalion, has been moved to Belgorod to carry out offensive missions, attempting to repeat the miracle of the AFU's successful entry into Kursk last August. However, from mid-to-early March until the end of April, the AFU failed to capture a single village in Belgorod.

Fighting while the unit is dispersed means that to completely destroy the 47th AFU Brigade, the entire unit's personnel would have to be annihilated simultaneously at least two different locations. This is very difficult to achieve, so "total annihilation" is certainly inaccurate. At most, the RFAF could only inflict heavy casualties on one unit of the 47th Brigade using Iskander-M ballistic missiles, Tornado-S missiles, or other long-range strike weapons.

If we only look at this combined attack, it's actually a rather dangerous signal for the AFU. First of all, this is a new tactic of the RFAF, aimed at coordinating combat between tactical missile forces and long-range artillery forces.

The Iskander-M tactical ballistic missile has a maximum range of approximately 500 km and can be equipped with various types of warheads, including ground-penetrating warheads, high-explosive warheads, and cluster warheads. It is suitable for attacking high-value point targets, such as command centers and communication centers.

The Tornado-S multiple rocket launcher system is a deeply modernized version of the Soviet-era BM-30 Smerch system. The first RFAF brigade was equipped with Tornado-S in 2019. Tornado-S can launch both guided and unguided rockets, suitable for attacking concentrated infantry and light armored forces, inflicting widespread casualties with its extensive firepower.

If the RFAF can combine these two types of long-range attack weapons, it will not only enhance the effectiveness of the attack but also confuse Ukraine's intelligence and air defense systems. Therefore, even if they detect Russian missiles or rockets being launched, they will be unable to accurately determine the target's location, which targets are decoys, and which are the actual attack.

The Tornado-S has a maximum range of 120 km; although the latest improved version has a range of 200 km, there is no evidence that the RFAF has used this latest version of the munition. The village of Korovnitsa is located nearly 100 km from the Russian-Ukrainian border, suggesting that the RFAF is taking a risk by deploying missile launchers so close to the border to carry out its mission.

Currently, the AFU has been essentially pushed back from the Kursk region, and the RFAF has advanced into the Sumy region and established a bridgehead to create a border security buffer zone. However, the Russia-Ukraine border remains a very dangerous area, with Ukrainian FPV drones waiting for an opportunity to "hunt." It can be said that any Russian weapons or units appearing on the border could be attacked by FPV drones at any time.

However, the RFAF is still able to deploy long-range offensive weapons to the border to carry out attacks, which not only shows that the RFAF has ways to intercept reconnaissance and attacks from Ukrainian UAVs, but also that the RFAF is gradually turning the Sumy province into a battlefield; forcing the AFU to further disperse its already "razor-thin" forces from Donetsk and Kherson.

If this is true, then it can be basically certain that this summer the RFAF can push forward into the Dnepropetrovsk and Kharkiv provinces, and through concentrated attacks, crush the increasingly thin lines of defense of the AFU. Then, the offensive that the 47th Motorized Infantry Brigade has just experienced will continue on all fronts. (Image source: Topwar, Sina, Ukrinform).

Source: https://khoahocdoisong.vn/nga-pha-huy-so-chi-huy-lu-doan-47-post1545008.html