Ukraine lost 16 US armored vehicles, successfully recaptured some areas

According to Jakub Janovsky of the Dutch open-source intelligence site Oryx , an organization that has compiled visual evidence of military equipment damage in Ukraine since February 24, 2022. Accordingly, 16 US Bradley infantry fighting vehicles have been destroyed or abandoned after being damaged in recent days. This is 15% of the total 109 armored vehicles that Washington provided to the Kyiv government.

Bradley fighting vehicles use tracks instead of conventional wheels, can transport 10 soldiers and are used to deliver troops to combat zones while also providing fire support.

When the first batch of 60 Bradley vehicles was shipped to Ukraine in late January 2023, US Army Lieutenant Colonel Rebecca d'Angelo, commander of the US Army's 841st Transportation Battalion, said the armored vehicles would play an important role in the Kyiv government's offensive.

World - Ukraine lost 16 armored vehicles provided by the US, successfully recaptured some areas — US soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 70th Armored Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, train with Bradley Fighting Vehicles in Nowa Deba, Poland on April 12, 2023. Photo: Artur Widak/NurPhoto/Getty Images/File.

“These armored vehicles are expected to improve the ability to successfully conduct offensive operations and retake territory by providing comparable or superior performance to Russian equipment,” d'Angelo said in a report to the US Army.

However, when the Washington administration announced in January that it would provide Bradley vehicles to Ukraine, CNN military analyst James “Spider” Marks, a retired general, said the Bradley vehicles needed support from other military capabilities such as air power, long-range artillery and sharp intelligence.

“The Bradleys are great pieces of equipment, but they need to be used alongside other support assets.”

Air support is one area where the Ukrainian military is lacking, but Kyiv government forces expect to receive F-16 multirole fighter jets from Western allies in the future.

According to Oryx , these Bradley vehicles were among 3,600 pieces of military equipment that Ukraine lost in the war. At the same time, this website also said that they had compiled documents about the loss of up to 10,600 pieces of military equipment by the Russian army.

In a statement released on Monday, the Moscow government confirmed that it had destroyed many Ukrainian armored vehicles in the Zaporizhzhia region.

“Ukrainian armored forces are increasingly launching offensives in the Zaporizhzhia region. However, Russian anti-tank troops block their way, turning Western armored vehicles into scrap,” the Russian Defense Ministry said.

The statement did not give details about the armored vehicles destroyed.

Recapture the villages

Despite losing several Bradleys, the Ukrainian government reported that it recaptured at least three villages from Russian forces in battles over the weekend.

The Ukrainian offensive from the town of Velyka Novosilke south of the Donetsk region frontline has recaptured an area of 5 to 10 km, according to figures given by Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar.

On her Telegram channel on Sunday, Maliar said the village of Makrivka had been recaptured from Russian hands. This was the third in a series of settlements on the banks of the Mokri Yaly River declared liberated by Ukrainian forces that day.

Earlier, several videos were posted showing soldiers raising Ukrainian flags at buildings in Neskuchne and Blahodatne.

CNN military analyst Mark Hertling said the situation is progressing in a positive direction for Ukraine on both the morale and battlefield fronts.

“These successes show that they are making progress,” Hertling told CNN's Jim Acosta.

At the same time, “every inch of land that Ukrainian forces retake will be part of the march toward the success of the campaign,” Mr. Hertling said.

Reporting on developments in the fighting, Russian military bloggers have offered a pessimistic assessment of the situation surrounding the Kremlin’s forces in the region. The Rybar Telegram channel said on Sunday that the Ukrainian offensive appeared to be continuing, adding that Russian forces “should prepare for increased pressure in the near future.”

According to Rybar, fighting is taking place near the riverside village of Urozhaine. The channel also said that clouds and rain have limited Russia's ability to use drones to push back Ukrainian troops.

A Ukrainian military spokesman said Ukrainian forces had destroyed a dam on the river, leading to flooding on both banks, but added that the incident “will not affect the counter-offensive”.

In its latest battlefield report, the Russian Defense Ministry did not mention the withdrawal decisions but said its forces had “destroyed the concentration of manpower and equipment” of three Ukrainian brigades operating in the same area.

Also according to the Russian Defense Ministry, to the west, in the neighboring Zaporizhzhia region, Russian air strikes and artillery fire from the Vostok brigade successfully repelled three Ukrainian attacks south of the city of Orikhiv.

Meanwhile, a Ukrainian military spokesman told CNN that Kyiv government forces had launched a counterattack on the outskirts of Bakhmut last week, but downplayed the significance of the operation, saying: “This is not a major offensive.”

“These were counterattacks in which we took advantage of the fact that the enemy was changing positions, had not yet fully surveyed the battlefield, had not yet fully coordinated their units, and had not yet fully consolidated their positions,” Serhii Cherevatyi said in a phone call with CNN. “We took advantage of these factors to counterattack.”

He said Russian forces continued to shell Ukrainian military positions but also revealed that Ukrainian forces had advanced up to 2km in some areas.

The Russian presence in Bakhmut is deployed by the air force, supported by infantry and mercenaries from various private military companies, Mr. Cherevatyi said.

While Russian forces held the city, Ukrainian forces focused on areas to the northwest and southwest of the city.

Mr. Hertling also said that the Ukrainian government is using its “deep strike capability” to disrupt Russian logistics deep behind the front lines.

“The Ukrainian military is very good at attacking targets deep behind the lines to affect the opponent's logistical capabilities.”

Nguyen Quang Minh (According to CNN)

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