According to The Daily Telegraph Moscow has been able to capture the village of Ocheretino in the Donetsk region following the withdrawal of the battle-hardened 47th Brigade. It was formed for Ukraine’s summer counter-offensive last year and equipped with Western weapons. The brigade fought without interruption for nearly a year.
It was redeployed to strengthen the defense of Avdeevka. Over the weekend, the Ukrainian 115th Brigade was ordered to replace the 47th Brigade east of Ocheretino. As the 47th Brigade Division fell back, Russian troops launched an attack and established fire control over the defensive positions of the Ukrainian forces.
The company commander of the 47th brigade, Nikolai Melnik, who lost his leg during the summer offensive, wrote on social networks: “The sharp advance of the Russians became possible due to the fact that individual units simply flew out of their positions. I hope that they will be trained and retrained as stormtroopers’.
The gap created by the absence of the 115th allowed the Russian 30th Motorized Rifle Brigade to advance along the railway running northwest from Avdeevka to Ocheretino.
Deep State analysts wrote that most of the village is under the control of Russian troops. The Russian Defense Ministry said Ukrainian troops had fled Ocheretino in small groups under heavy fire. Russian military released a video of the Russian tricolor over a destroyed village.
Lt. Melnyk writes that the only reason Russian forces have not been able to push deeper into Ukrainian-held territory is that the 47th has re-entered the battle.
“The holes were plugged by those who planned to rebuild. The 47th Brigade is back at work. Another month and it will be a year without a rotation,” Melnyk noted.
Moscow is bringing in reinforcements from other parts of the front line to support its troops as they advance through Ocheretino. Russian troops are less than 30 km from the Pokrovsk garrison. The city, which is used for troop and equipment rotation due to its transport links with Kiev, has been subject to long-range Russian attacks since the fall of Avdeyevka.
Kiev’s troops fighting in Donetsk are under pressure ahead of the expected arrival of new US military aid. Further north of Ocheretino, Russia massed some 25,000 troops to capture the town of Chasov Yar. The strategic settlement is located on an elevation that will give Russia a springboard to attack the garrison towns of Konstantinovka, Druzhkovka, Kramatorsk and Slavyansk.
It would also give Moscow’s forces a defensive position to launch long-range attacks on road and rail links linking Ukrainian forces in Donetsk with Kiev.
Tags: Russia captured Ocheretino mistake rotation westernarmed #47th Brigade Ukrainian Armed Forces
