Russian offensive in New-York: 206th Battalion claims there is no support from 41st Brigade
Pravda Ukraine
Soldiers from the 206th battalion of the 241st Independent Brigade of the Territorial Defence Forces, who have been seconded to the 41st Mechanised Brigade on the Toretsk front since the end of June, have complained of insufficient support from this formation. The 41st Brigade has yet to reply to the accusation.
Sources: one of the platoon commander of the 206th Battalion in a comment to Ukrainska Pravda (on condition of anonymity); Roman Kulik, the deputy battalion commander of the 206th Battalion, on Twitter (X); DeepStateMap on Telegram
Quote from the 206th Battalion platoon commander: “We claim that there is no support. We are light infantry, Territorial Defence Forces, and our weaponry includes machine guns and multiple mortars. We’re given such missions that maybe even the 3rd Assault Brigade, with its youthful men and weapons, might not be able to handle. For example, we had a combat mission to send 10 soldiers behind enemy lines and disrupt their supplies.
My platoon has been replenished with two soldiers throughout the year, who were assigned to us a week ago. One of them was 47, the other 56, both not in the best of health, and even they were later taken away.
Our battalion is always connected to a brigade. The Territorial Defence Forces function as a ‘filling’. If this is a normal brigade, it considers how many people we have, and gives us missions with the numbers in mind. For example, we had it this way with the 54th on the Soledar front.”
Quote from Kulik: “We are given absolutely insane missions, which are designed for space marines or, at the very least, new units packed with 20-year-old athletes and equipment. The reality that these people, are physically and psychologically fu**ed by the years of the full-scale war and that there is a complete lack of means and ammunition to support the soldiers is simply ignored.”
Details: According to the platoon commander of the 206th Battalion who talked with Ukrainska Pravda, the fall of the southern section of New-York was caused by a lack of people in the 206th Battalion and inadequate instructions from the 41st Brigade. The 206th Battalion was in charge of the defence there. In recent days, Russian forces have advanced from the captured Novoselivka more than three kilometres into New-York.
The commander also reported that there were no ready positions on the New-York front, where the Russian advanced. And that is despite the fact that the line of contact remained the same since the times of the Anti-Terrorist Operation (2014-2015).
Ukrainska Pravda approached the 41st Brigade’s press officer to confirm or refute the report, but received no response.
Background: In the second half of June 2024, the Russians began to move along the Toretsk front, particularly towards the city of Toretsk and the town of New-York. Prior to this, Russian forces had not advanced in this sector of the front since the beginning of the full-scale invasion.
According to Ukrainska Pravda, the offensive was made possible for two reasons. First, Ukrainian intelligence failed to recognise the Russians’ accumulation of forces and means in occupied Horlivka. Second, the Russians took advantage of the Ukrainian unit rotation: the 24th Brigade departed Toretsk for Chasiv Yar, while the 41st Brigade moved from Chasiv Yar to Toretsk.
For reference: Before moving to the Toretsk front for 2.5 months, the 206th Battalion of the 241st Independent Brigade of the Territorial Defence Forces was in command of the Chernobyl zone, and before that, it was on the defensive in the villages of Pobieda on the Marinka front and Rozdolivka on the Soledar front.
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