Reporting From Ukraine:
Note: other versions of this report are found elsewhere on FR, but this is guaranteed to be the complete transcript - unlike the others.
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[ Ukrainians Unleash RC Cars With Machine Guns to Storm Russian Positions ]
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Day 719: Feb 12
Today, there are a lot of updates from the Bakhmut direction.
The most intense clashes are taking place on the northern flank.
First of all, Ukrainian forces conducted a successful counterattack north of Bohdanivka and reestablished control over several important tree lines.
If we look at the topographic map, we can see that this area is located on a hill, making these positions tactically significant. From these tree lines, Ukrainians exert much higher control over the settlement that is located in the valley.
In the aftermath of this counterattack, Russian forces had to withdraw from the central part of the village. Shortly after that, a Russian “Storm-Z” instructor stated that the settlement is not tactically significant for Russian efforts anyway, since the village is located in a lowland and is vulnerable to Ukrainian artillery fire.
Several Ukrainian fighters reported that based on the intercepted radio talks, Russians want to enter Chasiv Yar before the March.
It seems like most Russian deadlines for achieving military objectives coincide with the elections that will take place in March.
Ukrainian Eastern Group of Forces Spokesman reported that the Russian military command is transferring reserves to this direction in an effort to break through Ukrainian defensive lines in front of Chasiv Yar.
Following the resumption of the offensive effort, new Russian reinforcements started launching attacks along the highway. The goal of these forces was to establish control over the cemetery and the small forest behind it, which are located on the edge of the highlands.
Russians understand that without establishing a foothold on the elevated platforms, the prospects of reaching Chasiv Yar are nonexistent. Russians concentrated their artillery fire and started launching one attack after another, regardless of the losses.
In the meantime, Russian drone operators focused on thwarting Ukrainian rotation. Unfortunately, Ukrainians did not manage to adjust to such a sudden concentrated push and withdrew from what was left of these positions.
Russian sources posted combat footage showing how Ukrainians were leaving their positions. According to the Institute for the Study of War, Russian forces are about two point three kilometers from the eastern outskirts of Chasiv Yar.
In order to capitalize on their success, Russian forces started deploying heavy equipment. The spokesman for a Ukrainian brigade operating in the region stated that Russian forces recently began conducting mechanized assaults, which is a departure from the previous pure infantry assaults.
Ukrainian fighters from the twenty-sixth artillery brigade posted a video showing how they are hunting down Russian armored vehicles in Berkhivka.
It seems like by that time, Ukrainian forces adjusted and even started responding with aviation. Footage released by Ukrainian fighters shows how Ukrainians are firing from helicopters.
The freshest updates indicate that Ukrainians repelled a major Russian mechanized assault. Ukrainians successfully hit the first vehicle in the column, immobilizing the rest of the vehicles, and opened fire.
Based on the video, half of the assault unit survived and retreated. Russian analysts stated that even though the situation for Ukrainians is very difficult, Ukrainians are still exerting high control over the region because they are located on the highlands, while Russians have to fight uphill.
Another small-scale but very interesting development happened a bit to the north. Here, Ukrainians conducted the first in history assault with radio-controlled ground drones with machine guns.
The footage is relatively old because Ukrainians did not want to post it immediately.
Ukrainian fighters from the 5th Assault Brigade advanced toward a Russian strong point on the side of the road and opened fire at it. The new models of these drones are smaller and more mobile.
Development of drone technology is deemed to be instrumental in achieving success and breaching the Russian defense in the future because these vehicles are very fast, do not trigger anti-tank mines, while being robust enough to withstand anti-personnel mines, and can overwhelm any strongpoint with fire.
In order to minimize territory losses to Russian offensives, while Ukrainians are developing drone technologies and organizing efficient and fast production, they are building robust defense lines.
Ukrainians took lessons from Russians and started building hundreds of kilometers of defenses along the entire contact line. The most heavily fortified area is actually the Bakhmut direction.
Here, Ukrainians have five defense lines, and in the new strategic update that I released yesterday, I analyzed where Ukrainians think the next major Russian offensive will take place, how their defenses aim to stop it, and, in some cases, how they force Russians into death zones.