The Institute for the Study of War, citing a Ukrainian army source, reported that on March 30, the Russian army used 36 tanks and 12 infantry fighting vehicles to storm the area near Toninki. Photos with geolocation data dated March 31 show a large amount of destroyed and damaged Russian equipment and tanks.
The source said that during the attack, the Ukrainians destroyed 12 tanks and eight infantry vehicles, and the Russians failed to penetrate the Ukrainian defense line.
Battle of Avdiivka. The Russians have a problem
Experts estimate that repelling a mechanized attack by battalion-sized forces may indicate that the operational reserves accumulated by Russian forces in this section are unable to guarantee the occupation army's movement westward in the near future.
The Washington think tank notes that this was the largest Russian mechanized attack since the beginning of the Avdiivka offensive in October 2023. Its repulsion shows that the Ukrainians are capable of defending themselves against the enemy's expected major summer offensive.
An effective defense against a major Russian attack on a key part of the front, despite challenges related to equipment and human resource shortages, suggests that Ukrainian forces can achieve significant results on the battlefield when properly equipped, as we read in the ISW report.
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