Vovchansk Becomes The Town That Held Against Russian Invasion

Today, the biggest news comes from Ukraine.

Here, on the northern edge of Kharkiv Oblast, the battle for Vovchansk became one of the most brutal and consequential urban fights of the war. In this overview, we will explore how Vovchansk, although heavily outgunned and relentlessly bombarded, became the town that held.

In May of 2024, Russia launched a major offensive operation across the international border, into the north of the Kharkiv region. The goal of the Russians was to tie down the Ukrainian forces and the frontline to bring the city of Kharkiv within range of Russian tube artillery.

Around 32,000 Russian soldiers were deployed, with half that number being held back as reserves as their forces moved across the international border. The initial Russian assault moved along two axes of Vovchansk and Lyptsi, with the Russian Storm V penal assault brigade advancing on Vovchansk, with several Motor Rifle Brigades moving in behind in support.

Initially, Ukrainians suffered from two major weaknesses, the first being that Ukrainian forces along the border were lacking armored support and artillery ammunition, as US military aid had only just been resumed after a 4-month-long pause. The second shortcoming was a lack of permission to use Western-supplied weapons on Russian Federation territory. However, with the significance of the Russian offensive not lost on military and political leadership, ammunition was quickly rerouted to the north, and the US rushed through permissions for strikes into Russia, leading to several devastating Himars ambushes on Russian equipment and forces concentrations.

As a result, the Russian advance was quickly confined to the northern industrial part of the town, north of the Vovcha River. The natural barrier, defensibility of urban environments, combined with resumed supplies and continued strikes on high-value targets, halted the Russian advance.

This allowed reinforcements to arrive in the form of the 82^nd Airborne Brigade and the 71^st Jaeger Mountain Brigade. At the end of May, Russians had already lost 5 to 7,000 soldiers in their efforts on Vovchansk alone.

The battle left the town completely in ruins, as the Russians shifted to bombing their way through instead. Deploying S-300 missiles in their ground-strike configuration, 500 kilogram glide-bombs, and thermobaric rockets launched from Tos-1A, Russian forces razed the town to the ground.

As the fighting continued till deep into August, the level of destruction was so high that barely any cover was left for the invaders to hide, suffering at least 10,000 casualties in Vovchansk during this time period.

Notably, units had to be pulled out because of the heavy losses, some losing up to 40% of their manpower, causing frequent large-scale desertions and refusals of orders, with Russian commanders deploying the Chechen Akhmat battalion to act as barrier troops. Currently, the intensity of the fighting remains low, and the zero line has barely moved since the summer of last year, as the original Russian goal of the offensive never materialized. Urban battles continue and have required both sides to adapt their strategies and use different tactics.

Because of the high level of destruction, there are no buildings to block drone signals, with both sides having to work around this problem. Russians use only a small number of infantry to move forward, trying to take Ukrainian positions quickly to use them as cover, as engaging in drawn-out firefights makes them easy targets for drones.

Ukrainian tactics also revolve around speed, often trying to destroy enemy positions by throwing anti-tank mines inside their shelters and returning before the Russian drones can engage them in turn. With the Russian tactic resulting in drawn-out firefights often, Russian forces have continued to drain forces in this sector to keep Ukrainian troops pinned down to prevent redeployment elsewhere; however, at the sharp cost of an estimated 10,000 more soldiers.

Overall, Russia tried to open a new front and failed miserably, with officials and open-source intelligence analysts estimating Russians lost approximately 20 to 30,000 soldiers and 400 armored vehicles from May 2024 till September of this year. Ukrainian troops have fitted their tactics and training to urban combat and used the geography of the town to their advantage, which proved vital in the defense of the city, both at the start of the battle and now. Because of the effective operations of the Ukrainians, Vovchansk became the town that held.

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