Deceptively Withdrawing, Ukrainian Forces Enticed Assaulting Russians Into a Ruinous HIMARS Trap
In a tactful move to draw in the overconfident Russians, soldiers from Ukraine's 225th Assault Battalion feigned defeat and retreated, luring a large force into a deadly trap in western Russia's Kursk Oblast. This strategy unfolded around, or just prior to, Thursday.
As the Russians surged ahead, believing they were about to take control of the long-contested village, they walked straight into a treeline just outside Sverdlikovo. Unbeknownst to them, a Ukrainian High-Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) rocket launcher had its sights set from miles away.
As a Ukrainian drone observed, an M30/31 rocket launched, scattering scores of grenade-sized bomblets across the treeline. The devastating strike wiped out a substantial portion of the enemy forces, allowing the Ukrainian forces to regroup and continue their mission to clear the territory.
The operation, a result of meticulous coordination between the battalion headquarters, front-line companies, and an adjacent artillery brigade, offers insight into the high Russian and North Korean casualties over the past three months. According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, around 30,000 Russians have been killed or injured since the Russian-led army escalated their efforts to dislodge 20,000 Ukrainian troops from the 250-square-mile salient they've held in Kursk since August.
Not only are the Russian and North Korean forces attacking relentlessly along the same few roads leading towards Sudzha, the anchor of the Ukrainian salient, but they're doing so on foot - which leaves them particularly vulnerable to artillery strikes, especially when they cluster together in pre-sighted kill zones.
To bait the Russians into this kill zone near Sverdlikovo, the 225th Assault Battalion staged a planned withdrawal from the same position. "When the enemy, believing in its 'success,' mobilized significant forces into this area, they were met with cluster munitions from HIMARS," the battalion explained.
Exact figures regarding the number of Russian troops present and hit remain unclear, as does the scale of the wider war on Ukraine, now in its fourth year. However, recent disastrous Russian and North Korean attacks have resulted in the loss of hundreds of troops.
The pride the 225th Assault Battalion takes in the ambush alludes to potentially significant Russian casualties. "It is not often that we can reveal the details of such operations," the battalion stated, "but this time we managed to demonstrate the power of coordination, tactics, and modern weapons in the hands of Ukraine's armed forces."
After the successful ambush, the battalion's commanders analyzed the impact of the HIMARS strike, revealing that the system, specifically an M30/31 rocket, was responsible for significant casualties among the Russian forces in Kursk. Despite Russia's continuous attacks and efforts to dislodge Ukrainian troops from the Kursk salient, the use of HIMARS systems like the one deployed near Sverdlikovo, has proven to be a formidable threat to their advancements.
