Battle of Mala Tokmachka | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Part of the 2023 Ukrainian counteroffensive during the Russian invasion of Ukraine | |||||||
| |||||||
Belligerents | |||||||
Russia | Ukraine | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Roman Demurchiyev[1] | Oleksandr Sak | ||||||
Units involved | |||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
1,900 killed |
Per Forbes 25 Tanks 40 IFVs and APCs destroyed 2 Leopard 2 captured[3][4] |
The Battle of Mala Tokmachka was a battle during the 2023 Ukrainian counteroffensive as part of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Background[edit]
At the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Mala Tokmachka quickly became a frontline settlement. The population would drop to only around 200 people by May 2023 due to the proximity of the fighting to the village and consistent Russian shelling which destroyed much of the local infrastructure and utilities.[5]
Battle[edit]
On 7 June 2023, Ukrainian forces would first attempt to push the fighting away from the settlement while the Ukrainian 47th Mechanized Brigade and 33rd Mechanized Brigade would launch a mechanized assault on the village.[6] Despite being armed with new western equipment, the initial attack went poorly. Russian scouts from the 70th and 291st motor rifle regiments spotted the Ukrainian armored column and called in Ka 52 attack helicopters.[7] The Ukrainian tank column came under anti-tank missile and small arms fire while attempting to cross a minefield outside of the village.[8][9] Trapped under fire and taking losses, the column retreated. Crews bailed out of their disabled vehicles and dragged dead and wounded with them out of the battlefield.[10]
The next day on 9 June, Ukrainian forces launched a second mechanized assault. The assault group came under artillery fire after being spotted by Russian drone operators and were forced to retreat.[11]
On 12 June, Aljazeera and Russian milbloggers reported that Russian forces counterattacked Ukrainian positions outside of Mala Tokmachka.[12][13]
On 21 June, Ukrainian General Staff spokesperson Andriy Kovalev claimed that Ukrainian forces had made several gains around Mala Tokmachka.[14]
On 30 June 2023, the Institute for the Study of War reported that the lack of a major breakthrough by Ukrainian forces around Mala Tokmachka would lead to less attacks and the beginning of positional fighting.[15]
Aftermath[edit]
Forbes reported that the Battle of Mala Tokmachka was a military disaster for Ukraine with both the 33rd and 47th losing 15% of their soldiers killed or wounded and losing a fifth of Ukraine's M2 Bradleys, a fifth of its Leopard 2A6s and half its Leopard 2Rs with Russian forces in return only suffered light casualties.[16] Chief master sergeant Valerii Markus of the 47th Mechanized Brigade told critics to "shut your mouths."[17] The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces claimed that 1,900 Russian soldiers died in and around Mala Tokmachka between June 8th and June 10th.[18] Some of the damaged vehicles were later recovered and repaired by Ukrainian forces.[19][20] Ukrainian sources claimed that Russian forces were inflating Ukrainian equipment losses at Mala Tokmachka.[21][22] Russian forces would later publish a video on 13 June showing 2 captured Leopard 2 tanks and multiple M2 Bradleys.[23] It was later reported that Russian forces quadrupled the depth of their defensive minefields, from 120 meters to 500 meters and also increased the density of mines within the expanded fields.[24] The defeat at Mala Tokmachka would result in Ukrainian commanders switching to dismounted infantry attacks rather than mechanized assaults in order to not risk more armored vechles.[25][26] This would result in lowered armor losses but higher infantry casualties.[27]
Notes[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ admin (2023-07-11). ""Наступали двумя волнами": командир рассказал об атаках на позиции 42-й дивизии на Ореховском направлении". МОО «Союз ветеранов спецназа ГРУ имени Героя Российской Федерации Шектаева Д.А.» (in Russian). Retrieved 2023-07-14.
- ^ "25 Tanks and Fighting Vehicles, Gone in a Blink: The Ukrainian Defeat Near Mala Tokmachka Was Worse Than We Thought". Forbes.
- ^ "June 14 — Day 476 — Mala Tokmachka, Velika Vasylkivka, POWs and Putin's numbers". 15 June 2023.
- ^ https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/6/14/ukraine-attacks-the-front-line-russia-says-big-losses-inflicted
- ^ "Russian forces lash out indiscriminately as Ukraine increases military pressure on frontline towns". CNN. 8 May 2023.
- ^ "Institute for the Study of War".
- ^ https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russia-awards-medals-after-claiming-hits-leopard-tanks-us-bradleys-ukraine-2023-06-11/
- ^ https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/weapons/a44157100/ukraine-suffers-losses-breaching-minefield/
- ^ Beaumont, Peter; Wintour, Patrick (14 June 2023). "Ukraine's failed Mala Tokmachka assault lays bare counteroffensive challenges". The Guardian.
- ^ "25 Tanks and Fighting Vehicles, Gone in a Blink: The Ukrainian Defeat Near Mala Tokmachka Was Worse Than We Thought". Forbes.
- ^ https://euromaidanpress.com/2023/06/09/frontline-report-ukrainians-attempt-to-storm-russian-positions-face-resistance/?swcfpc=1
- ^ https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/6/14/ukraine-attacks-the-front-line-russia-says-big-losses-inflicted
- ^ https://t.me/rybar/48394
- ^ https://www.newsweek.com/ukraine-russia-counteroffensive-zaporizhzhia-melitopol-donetsk-1808075
- ^ "Institute for the Study of War".
- ^ "25 Tanks and Fighting Vehicles, Gone in a Blink: The Ukrainian Defeat Near Mala Tokmachka Was Worse Than We Thought". Forbes.
- ^ https://twitter.com/Valerii_Markus/status/1667222503431782435
- ^ https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/6/14/ukraine-attacks-the-front-line-russia-says-big-losses-inflicted
- ^ "Ukrainian Tank Losses Diminish as Polish Technicians Save More and More Damaged Leopard 2s". Forbes.
- ^ https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidaxe/2023/07/02/ukrainian-engineers-are-recovering-the-25-vehicles-ukraine-lost-in-a-russian-minefield-starting-with-an-american-made-m-2/?sh=4596c5165923
- ^ https://euromaidanpress.com/2023/06/10/so-how-many-leopard-tanks-were-lost-in-ukraine/
- ^ https://t.me/DeepStateUA/16802?single
- ^ https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russia-releases-video-captured-german-tanks-us-fighting-vehicles-ukraine-2023-06-13/
- ^ https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidaxe/2023/09/05/to-slow-the-ukrainian-counteroffensive-the-russian-army-quadrupled-the-size-of-its-minefields/?sh=4545280a69e8
- ^ "Why Ukraine's counteroffensive failed: WP analysis in 7 minutes". 6 December 2023.
- ^ https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidaxe/2023/09/06/disastrous-armored-assaults-taught-the-ukrainian-army-to-flank-russian-defenses-instead/?sh=7844267e2fb1
- ^ "Syrskyi in, Zaluzhnyi out: What to expect from Ukraine's army reshuffle". 10 February 2024.