Russia attacks with astonishing speed, Azov Brigade enters "gates of hell"

The Russian army suddenly achieved an incredible offensive speed, while the Azov Brigade set foot in the “gates of hell” Pokrovsk.

At the very moment when the General Staff of the Ukrainian army announced that only a small number of Russian reconnaissance troops had penetrated into the Donbass rear, the 132nd Brigade of the Russian Armed Forces (RFAF) discovered a weakly defended area of the Ukrainian Armed Forces (AFU), north of the Pokrovsk city area.

The 132nd Brigade advanced “all the way” 18 km, not only forming an “extended arm” hugging the city of Pokrovsk, but also behind the key AFU position in Donetsk, the city of Kramatorsk. This was certainly a heavy blow to the AFU General Staff.

The situation at that time was such that tens of thousands of Ukrainian troops in the Pokrovsk city area were confined to the outer perimeter of the front line, blocking the relentless day and night attacks of 160,000 Russian troops. The Pokrovsk urban area at this time literally turned into a “black hole”, sucking all the resources of the AFU into its defense.

After some Russian commandos infiltrated the city of Pokrovsk, the AFU had to send their last reserve unit into combat, the 63rd Motorized Infantry Brigade, responsible for rear guard protection, into the Pokrovsk area for defense.

As a result, the area 10-20 km from Pokrovsk was practically empty, so the RFAF's 132nd Assault Brigade encountered almost no resistance after advancing. They advanced 18 km, and not even a single Ukrainian counterattack battalion appeared. This shows that this was a virtually deserted area with no defenses.

The bottom line is that this area not only has no defenses, but also very few fortifications, just vast steppes. How can the main Ukrainian mechanized forces fight if the RFAF invades? The Russians have air superiority and 10 times more artillery firepower. Without fortifications, can the Ukrainians fight?

In the Donbass region, the Ukrainian army is dispersed across many different fronts and defensive clusters, with few reserves. This makes coordination between forces and units at both the strategic and tactical levels almost impossible.

Thus, in just 24 hours, an RFAF mechanized infantry brigade broke through 15 kilometers north of Pokrovsk and captured an area of 157 square kilometers, setting a new record since April 2022. If the RFAF continues to reinforce and advance, not only Pokrovsk will be cut off, but also the rear routes of the two main fortresses Kramatorsk and Slavyansk, the last key Ukrainian strongholds in Donbass, will be cut off.

The situation at the Pokrovsk front worried the AFU Commander-in-Chief, General Syrsky. He mobilized the reserve forces stationed in the city of Kostiantynivka, the 12th Azov Brigade, to quickly advance behind the city of Pokrovsk, to plug the gap and counterattack.

The core of the 12th Azov Brigade is currently the Azov Battalion, which was formed from the prisoners of the Azov Battalion, released after the Battle of Mariupol. The brigade commander is Lieutenant Colonel Denis Prokopenko, the former commander of the Azov Battalion who was captured at the Azovstal Steel Plant in Mariupol and later released in a prisoner exchange. He was appointed commander of the 12th Azov Brigade by President Zelensky.

The 12th Azov Brigade held out at Rodinske, stopping the Russians and preventing them from completely cutting off supply lines and completely encircling the city of Pokrovsk, along with tens of thousands of Ukrainian troops defending it.

The 12th Azov Brigade and the 20th Lyubate Combat Brigade have now entered the rear of Pokrovsk, established blocking positions and launched a counterattack on the spot. They hold the Novyi Donbas-Stepy-Rubizhne line and contain the chaos east of Dobropillia.

In this regard, the Russian media were very lively: "The sound of the boiler closing was louder than the sound of a coffin lid!", The Russian army was waiting for the Azov Brigade to arrive, and finally this unit appeared.

On the Pokrovsk front, the RFAF, with 160,000 troops, was not afraid of the Azov Brigade, which was reinforced by only 10,000 troops at most. On the evening of August 12, Ruslan Tatarinov, a war correspondent and author of the "Frontline Whispers" channel, reported that "the road from Dobropillia to Kramatorsk was cut off in the area of the towns of Novotroitske and Petrivka".

Ukrainian authorities in Kramatorsk have begun evacuating residents. Russian forces are continuing their offensive, with the Russian command preparing to advance 50 km in this direction, quickly, promptly and thoroughly, in order to completely encircle all Ukrainian core positions and reserves in Donbass.

Rybar channel reported that RFAF has entered the strategic town of Rodinske; thus Rodinske and the city of Pokrovsk are at their most dangerous moment. AFU currently has few reserve forces, while the main force, stretched to the front line, is to prevent the Russian army from advancing massively on the city.

In the current situation, the AFU General Staff was forced to transfer some troops to Dobropillia to prevent the city from falling, or at least avoid being surrounded. Therefore, the remaining AFU forces, in particular the strategic town of Rodinske and the city of Pokrovsk, can only defend important areas. (photo source Military Review, Ukrinform, Kyiv Post, TASS).

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