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Convulsions of the Ukrainian counteroffensive continue in the Zaporozhie region. Loosing servicemen and military equipment in constant assault operations, the Armed Forces of Ukraine are still banging head against Russian defences.
To the south of the town of Orekhov, the AFU continue fruitless attacks in the area of the village of Rabotino and along the Rabotino-Verbovoe frontline.
After months of bloody battles, the Ukrainian military is yet to take control of the small village. On August 21, an assault group of the AFU entered the central part of the village, where the battle is currently ongoing.
Attacking from the north and attempting to bypass the settlement from the east, the AFU attempt to gain a foothold on its northern outskirts. Russian forces are in control of the central and southern parts of the village. The AFU had already made several attempts to gain a foothold in the north of Rabotino, but were repelled in the area.
The Ukrainian military are bringing reserves into battles which are already unlikely to change the situation on the battlefield, as they are running out of time. In several weeks, the rainy weather will complicate any offensive operations in the Ukrainian steppes.
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Fighting in the village and on its outskirts:
German Marder 1A3 deployed near Rabotino:
On August 21, the local Russian officials claimed that the AFU have already deployed their main reserves in the battles for Rabotino but they are still trying to gain a foothold in the north of the village under the constant shelling of Russian artillery and airstrikes, including with heavy FAB-500 bombs.
“Our Spartans are grinding the elite, which the AFU command kept in reserve for the main stage of the counteroffensive. The number of destroyed and damaged enemy equipment is estimated by many dozens,” the Russian official added.
Earlier, the head of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov said that there is a large accumulation of AFU troops and foreign military equipment in the Orekhovsky direction.
“There is a large accumulation of NATO manpower and foreign military equipment in the Orekhov direction. The attacks of the UkroNatovites are being successfully repelled,” he said.
The deployment of the main reserves of the AFU in this direction was previously reported by Business Insider and Forbes. According to Forbes columnist David Axe, the AFU deployed the 82nd Airborne Assault Brigade, which is the last major reserve unit equipped with Marder and Stryker armored vehicles, Challenger 2 tanks.
According to the reports from the front, the 82nd Airborne Assault Brigade recently came under heavy Russian airstrikes, suffering losses. The Ukrainian military command was so upset that the press service of the AFU asked not to spread information about the movement of Ukrainian troops anymore, recalling the criminal responsibility for such sensitive information.
Destroyed German Leopard 2A4 APU in the fields near Rabotino:
Destroyed Ukrainian tank T-64BM “Bulat”:
Russian Ka-52 helicopter destroyed Ukrainian armored personnel carrier by a guided missile:
Ukrainian reconnaissance group destroyed:
After the AFU regrouped in the area of Pyatikhatki, they attempted several attacks without heavy military equipment covered by Ukrainian artillery. However, the reconnaissance operations ended in another failure. Shelled by Russian artillery, they retreated to their military positions.
South of Velikaya Novoselka, the villages of Staromayorskoe and Urozhainoe are still in the grey zone, as the AFU are yet to gain a foothold in the area. Their losses are constantly growing in battles and heavy Russian artillery fire. The intensity of fighting has reportedly decreased in the area, likely as a result of regrouping of Ukrainian forces.
Russian forces are holding the defense in the villages of Priyutnoe and Novodonetskoe.
According to the Russian Ministry of Defence:
Ukrainian losses in the areas of the settlements of Staromayorskoye and Urozhodnoye amounted to up to 110 Ukrainian servicemen, two armored combat vehicles, two cars, self-propelled artillery installations: AS-90 “Braveheart” made in the UK and “Non-C”, as well as the M777 artillery system made in the USA.
In the Zaporozhye direction, the coordinated actions of the units of the Russian grouping of troops repelled five attacks by the 82nd airborne assault brigade of the AFU from the strategic reserve of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the area of Rabotino, Zaporozhye region.
In addition, an ammunition depot of the 65th mechanized Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine was destroyed near the settlement of Omelnik, Zaporozhye region.
The enemy’s losses in this direction amounted to over 80 Ukrainian servicemen, three infantry fighting vehicles, four cars, howitzers: FH-70 made in Great Britain, D-20 and D-30, two M119 guns made in the USA, as well as a counter-battery radar station made in the USA AN/TPQ – 50.