The map of Ukraine is littered with small towns that led unassuming, mostly agricultural lives until war overtook them. I previously wrote about Dovenke, who held off Russian forces pushing down from Izyum for two months before surrendering the remnants of Russia to Russia. On the 4th of June. Yet after nearly two months, Russia couldn’t move beyond the town—a pattern we see time and time again: Russia scrambles to capture a few minor points on the map, and then has little left in the tank. is for other benefits.
Bohorodichne, pre-war population 794, is one of those towns, not far from Dothanke.
The map fragment above has not changed in the two months since Dovenke fell. (If you don’t believe me, See for yourself.) Throughout that time, Bohorodychne has been under almost daily attack, opposed by what has been the largest concentration of Russian forces in all of Ukraine. How did it manage it?
Here is a satellite image of the village:
The town has two features that aid in its survival. To the north, the Siverskyi Donat River presents a natural barrier to attack from that direction. Now if you look carefully, you will notice the second defensive feature – the hills. There is high ground to the north-west of the town, and to its east and south-east. By all indications, Russia held those northern heights, Ukraine held the eastern side. For two months, the poor helpless Russian soldiers are sent to the flat lands between the two heights where they are picked up by the defenders.
Repeated attempts by Russia to capture the village have proven costly, and we can see for ourselves how costly. It is known that Russia first reached Bohorodychne On June 11. Here we see the Ukrainian defenders rush to its defense.
Be careful with the dates on these tweets — the date of the event, and when the video was uploaded to Telegram, are not necessarily the same. I think this gives us a general time frame, taking into account other signs, such as leaf condition.
Anyway, here’s Ukrainian M777 howitzer artillery hammering Russian positions at the base of the hill northwest of the village, probably a few days later:
Note that in any army, airborne or airmobile troops are considered elite. This suggests that Ukraine took the defense of the town seriously, sending some of its best troops to man it.
You may remember this video, which was a tribute to Bohorodichne:
The start of the video is mind-blowing — four tanks are disabled after hitting landmines. There is a gap between the two, so a fifth tank decides why not? Well, this is the opening Also Excavated at best, only one tank appears to be completely destroyed, the rest of the tracks were blown off and hopefully captured by the Ukraine for refitting and later reuse. (More videos and pictures here.)
About a week later, in the same place, a discredited Russian source claimed that their tanks attacked a Ukrainian armored personnel carrier:
By all indications, this was the main objective of Russia’s battle for Bohorodychne.
From the video we know that Russia tried to move infantry through the forests at the base of the Ukrainian-held hills. This is a very graphic video Here is, so a warning is given if you click. Judging by their identity documents, they made the long journey to die, from the Kuril Islands in the Pacific. These are the same islands that Japan claims. Apparently, they can waltz today if they want to.
Nevertheless, by mid-July, Russia held the town, though perhaps “held” needs to be wrapped in scare quotes:
The footage shows a Russian armored vehicle parking inside a civilian structure on the southern bank that is now a ghost town. It then flies away. Also, we know that Ukraine still maintains positions in the hills east of the village because we have video of Russian TOS-1 thermobaric missile barrages at those positions:
Video of that barrage, from a Russian source, offers a better view of the terrain. The TOS-1 has a range of only four kilometers, so it makes sense that Russia would have to capture the southern edge of the town to use it.
This Russian position is also in the southern edge of the village:
It’s not an “ammo depot”, even the Russians aren’t stupid enough to put one directly on the front line. It actually appears that the Russians set up shop next to the fertilizer storage, which caused a portion of the explosion to burn orange. It definitely makes for great dramatic footage.
In mid-July, Ukraine suffered more losses against the invaders:
Note that only one of these armored vehicles and one Tiger-M (like the Hummer) are new. Others are destroyed by other attacks mentioned above. Russian reports on that failed attack also revealed an unspecified first strike casualty:
Dramatic scenes in this news report of a Ukrainian airmobile unit defending the village, with the disturbing sound of artillery and small arms fire in the background. I definitely wish I spoke Ukrainian:
This suggests that instead of occupying the hilltops, infantry with anti-tank weapons patrol the jungle at the base, attempting to advance assault armor or infantry.
I started digging for these tweets, then realized @Danspiun Already did. He is one of the guys helping catalog equipment damage for the Oryx database. His final Damage to the equipment From these tweets:
Russia:
13 tanks
11 armored personnel carriers
4 Unknown Armored Vehicles (APCs or Tanks)
2 Tigr-M damaged
Ukraine:
1 armored personnel carrier
1 unknown tank
A full-strength Russian BTG is, on paper, 10 tanks and 40 armored personnel carriers. At the very least, the Russians lost one, and probably 1½ BTGs of tanks in this town. Ukraine has not been safe, but by all indications it has been a one-sided war. We don’t know how many Russians have been killed or wounded here, but that equipment number (and a video of dead Russians I’ve included above) suggests the number is significant.
Now @Danspiun doesn’t think Russia has withdrawn from the region, disagreeing with other OSINT (open source intelligence) analysts who have concluded that Russia has left, one with the now-gone pontoon bridge. War supplies this axis. I’ve written about the confusing situation here, and it seems that the preponderance of evidence suggests that Russia has gone..
The Ukrainian General Staff last reported ground attacks on Bohorodychne on July 23 and 26, so about a week after the last attack. And while artillery barrages appear regularly, they have appeared less frequently in recent weeks (with a general reduction in Russian artillery after HIMARS).
The capture of Bohorodichne has been a great strategic success, but what does it mean Strategically? This means that Russia’s push towards the twin bastion cities of Slovinsk and Kramatorsk is stalled. And if Russia can’t get past this insignificant spot on the map, how is it supposed to 1) reach Slovinsk with even longer supply lines, and 2) capture cities with a combined pre-war population of 250,000? ?
Bohorodichne opens up many strategic possibilities! They could move south to cut off the Ukrainian defenders just south of Dovenke. They could threaten that small Ukrainian salient to the east, protected by the river. They could build a pontoon bridge to better supply that axis of attack.
Now, nothing like that is happening. We have reported rumors that Russia is evacuating the Izyum approach to reinforce Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts in the south. If you see any vehicles with the “V” mark in the south, they were all previously in Izyum. Russia may have a few more fronts left in the region, but the front has not advanced since Dovenke fell on June 4.
Considering that this region, at one time, had the largest concentration of Russian troops in the entire country, it is a shame that the two small towns of Dovenke and Bohorodychne – which numbered no more than 800 before the war – had their progress blocked. broke the
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Speaking of Dovhen’ke, something can happen. Back on July 28, the General Staff reported a Russian attack from Dovenke:
In the Slavyansk direction, with the aim of finding weak points in the defense of our units, the occupiers launched attacks in Dovenke-Mzanivka. [direction].
Here is their report from last night:
In the Sloviansk direction, the enemy used artillery to shell the areas of the settlements of Sloviansk, Andrivica, Dolina. DovenkeKurulka, Husarivka, Adamivka, Bohorodichne, Krasnopilya, Karnaukhivka, Chervon, Semilane, Hrushuvaha, and Chervona Polyana. [Emphsis mine]
Remember the General Staff Code – they won’t necessarily announce when towns change hands, but you can read between the lines. Why would Russia shoot Dovenke if they still had control of that wreckage?