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Today, there are a lot of interesting updates from the Liman direction.
Here, in a brutal fight for Terny, Russian soldiers were thrown into wave after wave of assaults, only to face relentless Ukrainian firepower. What followed on the battlefield was described by surviving Russian soldiers as scenes straight out of a horror movie, with the fight for this small village resulting in over a thousand Russian soldiers being wiped out.
The goal of the Russian forces in this area was to take Terny, which they had failed to achieve for over a year of constant assaults. By taking over the settlement, Russian forces would accomplish the first step in eliminating the Ukrainian bridgehead on the east bank of the Zherebets river, while securing the flank of their bridgehead in the west. By doing so, Russian forces would only be separated from Liman by several kilometers of open fields. To achieve this, Russian commanders send forth small infantry groups in day-and-night assaults, hoping to overwhelm Ukrainian defenders who describe the setting as a constant conveyor belt of small Russian assaults.
The main advantage of the Russian forces in this area is their bridgehead in the village of Ivanivka on the western bank of the Zherebets River. These positions enabled the Russian forces to cut off one of the two Ukrainian supply lines to Terny and place the Ukrainian positions in the village in a cauldron. On top of that, if we take a look at the topographic map, we can see that the Russians control the high elevations both to the east and west of Terny. This allows their reconnaissance teams to observe Ukrainian positions and movements in the village, which is located in the lowlands.
However, during the past year of intense assaults, the Russians had lost so many armored personnel carriers and tanks here, that they were forced to use civilian cars and unarmored trucks to deploy their soldiers to the frontline. Furthermore, Russians continue to have to cross over ten kilometers of open fields to even reach Ukrainian positions. With Ukrainians conducting extensive drone surveillance, many Russian reinforcements become exposed to Ukrainian fire during their transport to the frontline, resulting in disastrous casualties even long before they reach Ukrainian positions and only allowing very small groups to actually launch the planned assaults.
Footage posted by a Russian soldier fighting in the Liman direction shows the aftermath of Ukrainian nightly Vampire drone raids on Russian supply lines, with entire columns of destroyed Russian cars and trucks littering the road. Additional footage reveals how Russian convicts were sent toward Terny without body armor, helmets, or rifles to draw Ukrainian fire while trying desperately to hide from Ukrainian drones and small arms fire. However, after the convict recruit waves ended, trained Russian soldiers initiated their assault on the detected Ukrainian positions. Despite showing good skill and aggression, their small numbers could not compensate against real-time intelligence received from Ukrainian drone operators, as the Ukrainian defenders were able to eliminate the Russian soldiers as they charged forward.
Later, one Russian soldier released another video of him walking through a tree line on his way to the front, where the aftermath of the suicidal Russian tactics becomes ever apparent. As he continued walking past the bodies of dozens of Russian soldiers, he expressed the terrible smell on the way to the front while describing the sight as, quote, like a horror movie, showing the immense scale of Russian losses.
Overall, the recent Russian campaign for Terny has resulted in over one thousand Russian soldiers being killed in grinding battles, all for one small settlement. The Ukrainian 60th Separate Mechanized Brigade has effectively held off the combined efforts of two full-strength Russian divisions, outnumbered approximately 5 to one, not just around Terny, but the whole Zherebets River. Still, the Ukrainian defenders are managing to deplete the Russian offensive capabilities around Terny and inflict severe losses. This has led to Russians no longer having the armored units available to support their attacks, only leading to further increased casualties and an even slower rate of advance. Russian forces will continue to incur high losses as they have only now entered Terny, with them having to suffer even more to actually take the settlement.