Frontline report: Russia’s high-rise attack in Toretsk fails as Ukrainian forces use FPVs to decimate Russian troops

Today there are many updates from the direction of Toretsk.

Here, after losing control of half of the tactically important high-rise buildings in the central part of the city, the Russians decided to launch a counterattack to permanently change the battle dynamics in Toretsk. However, the Ukrainians knew about this plan and willingly faced the renewed Russian attacks, knowing that whoever controls the central high-rise area controls the entire city.

The Russian plan aimed to attack the Ukrainian-held high-rises in order to regain complete control of the area. Success in this objective would allow Russian forces to expand their control over residential areas north of the high-rise sector and use these to flank the northern high-rises, thereby intensifying fighting there.

Had this succeeded, it would have enabled Russia to establish comprehensive fire control across Toretsk from both high-rise sectors, paving the way for complete control of the city.

After spending nearly a month regrouping and organizing following earlier setbacks in Toretsk, the Russian command launched a major infantry attack on Ukrainian positions in the central high-rises. Their plan aimed to overwhelm the Ukrainian defenses by quickly infiltrating and storming the buildings, hoping to force the Ukrainian forces into intense hand-to-hand combat.

The large number of Russian fighters on the ground made them vulnerable to concentrated Ukrainian FPV drone attacks. Many Russian soldiers tried to avoid detection by playing dead, but Liut Brigade drone operators, familiar with this tactic commonly used by Russian forces in Toretsk, identified and targeted them.

While drones destroyed a significant part of the attack units, a significant number of Russian stormtroopers managed to penetrate the high-rise buildings and engage the Ukrainian forces in combat. Small arms battles between Russian and Ukrainian soldiers took place at extremely close range – just a few dozen meters, sometimes even at close range – an unusually intense closeness in this war.

The intensity of the fighting prevented wounded Ukrainian soldiers from receiving immediate treatment, prompting them to continue fighting in the hope of quickly repelling Russian forces and receiving medical assistance.

Additional footage shows Ukrainian soldiers spotting a Russian stormtrooper on a nearby roof trying to play dead, which they promptly neutralized.

After Russian attack forces were exhausted and caused heavy casualties in the high-rises, Ukrainian fighters retrieved radios from fallen Russian soldiers and used them to communicate with the remaining Russian survivors in Russia.

This tactic lured Russian stormtroopers out of their positions under the impression that they were approaching friendly forces, only to be met with concentrated Ukrainian machine gun fire. This strategy allowed the Ukrainians to withdraw and destroy Russian troops from fortified positions without engaging in hand-to-hand combat.

Overall, the Russians launched a major attack on Ukrainian positions in the high-rise district in the center of Toretsk, but suffered another brutal defeat. After the Ukrainian fighters lured and killed Russians with captured radios, the Russian command realized that their communications and coordination between the infantry assault squads had been compromised and decided to withdraw.

This decision was the only remaining decision that Russian commanders had under the condition of compromised communications, which brought them back to square one regarding their offensive efforts in Toretsk.

The losses from this attack will force them to reorganize their forces for a few more weeks to resume their attacks.

In our daily Front reportWe’re partnering with military blogger Reporting from Ukraine to keep you updated on what’s happening on the battlefield in the Russo-Ukrainian War.