This week, the 57th separate motorized rifle brigade of the Russian army broke through the defenses of the 72nd separate mechanized brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which is defending Vugledar in the Donetsk region. At the moment, the invaders are in the south of the city, and the tired Ukrainian garrison is probably already starting to retreat to the north.
According to Forbes, even if the Russians capture Vugledar, this victory will cost them dearly. The battles in this area have already cost them about a thousand units of equipment and several thousand soldiers. The powerful defense of the Armed Forces with the help of mines, artillery, UAVs and anti-tank missiles destroyed entire enemy brigades.
The most difficult time for the enemy was from the end of 2022 to the beginning of 2023. At the time, Russian operations in the fields outside Vugledar were led by a pair of marine units of the Russian Pacific Fleet: the 40th and 155th Marine Brigades. Their failed attacks became some of the bloodiest of the entire war. For example, the 155th Brigade, which on paper had about 3,000 troops, was losing up to 300 men a day for several days and was almost wiped out by February 2023. After being restocked, it was broken up again.
"Over the past six months, the 155th has likely been reduced to a non-combat status at least twice due to tactically flawed attacks near Wugledar," the British Ministry of Defense said in April 2023.
At the same time, the 40th Marine Brigade had slightly better results, but not by much. In total, these and supporting units lost about a thousand tanks, combat vehicles, trucks and artillery pieces, according to WarSpotting. This is approximately two brigades of equipment and almost six percent of all vehicles that Russia lost during 31 months of heavy fighting in Ukraine.
In contrast, the Armed Forces lost significantly less in this area, as the defenders were mostly in trenches and bunkers, firing at the enemy from a distance with mines, artillery, rockets and drones.
