Border warfare, logistics strikes and hunt for aircraft: The week in the Ukraine conflict (VIDEOS)

The past week in the Russia-Ukraine conflict has seen continuing active combat at multiple locations along the front line, with the most fierce clashes going on along the border between the two countries in Ukraine’s Kharkov Region, as well as in the vicinity of the Russian Donbass town of Chasov Yar.

On Sunday, the Russian Defense Ministry announced the liberation of the village of Zagornoye, Zaporozhye Region, located some 10km to the southwest of the Ukrainian-controlled town of Gulaypole. The tiny settlement has seen intense combat over the past weeks as the long-static frontline got activated in the area.

The town of Chasov Yar remains one of the hottest points at the frontline, with the Russian forces continuing their advance. The combat environment around the town, turned into a major logistics center and a heavily-fortified stronghold by the Ukrainian troops, has proven to be extremely difficult. The town is split in two uneven halves by a major canal, which is used as a fortified line by Kiev’s forces. 

Thus far, the Russian forces have managed to partially seize control of the eastern part of the town, including multiple multi-story buildings located on a dominant elevation. The fighting has been slowly moving towards the canal, with drone footage that emerged on Thursday showing Russian forces striking Ukrainian supply routes with multiple rocket launchers. 

The situation in Kharkov Region remains complicated as well, with active fighting continuing following Moscow’s advance into Ukrainian territory in the effort to set-up a buffer zone to stop indiscriminate cross-border attacks on its soil. The towns of Volchansk and Liptsy arguably remain the two hottest points in the area, with Kiev’s forces reportedly pouring in reserves and staging multiple countera@ttacks daily in the effort to push the Russians back. 

Logistics strikes 

Over the past week, the Russian military continued strikes on Ukrainian logistics, targeting multiple bridges near the frontline. Some of them were hit by aerial strikes a few weeks ago, but have been already fixed by the Kiev forces since then. The strikes appeared to be primarily concentrated on Kharkov Region. 

Footage circulating online shows a new strike on a bridge across the Oskol River located in the town of Kupyansk-Uzlovoy,. The bridge sustained considerable damage in the strike, with waters flowing it, the video suggests

Another video shows a strike on a bridge across the Seversky Donets river located near the village of Stary Saltov. A high-precision missile hit the bridge connecting two sides of a long dam running across the river. An unlucky truck, believed to be a military vehicle got caught in the blast and was destroyed. 

Strikes on airfields 

Both sides of the conflict have continued to hunt for each other’s aircraft, launching repeated strikes on airfields. For Russia, the task is aggravated by the scarcity of the surviving Ukrainian frontline aviation, which is being actively relocated by Kiev between multiple airfields scattered across the country.

Last week, the Russian military conducted strikes on a military airbase located in the city of Mirgorod in Poltava Region. Surveillance footage circulating online showed the airfield was hit by an Iskander ballistic missile, with at least one Ukrainian Su-27 fighter jet destroyed in the strike and two others reportedly sustaining damage.

The airfield was subjected to additional airstrikes in the following days, with several hits with unknown munitions reported on Monday, as well as a large-scale attack with Geran-2 kamikaze drones reported on Wednesday. It was not immediately known whether any aircraft were hit by these strikes. 

Hunt for Western-supplied hardware 

Over the past week, the Russian military has destroyed several Ukrainian high-value assets, including Western-supplied conventional artillery pieces and multiple rocket launchers. 

Footage showing a strike on a M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) multiple rocket launcher, said to be taken in Kharkov Region, emerged online on Thursday. The system was tracked from its firing position by a surveillance drone to a hiding spot in a wooded area. After the launcher and a support vehicle got parked, their location was hit with a ballistic missile, likely an Iskander. Both vehicles likely got destroyed or heavily damaged by the strike, footage suggests.

A few days earlier, a heavier tracked cousin of HIMARS, M270 MLRS system, got hit by an Iskander ballistic missile in the vicinity of the city of Zaporozhye.

The launcher, said to be packing US-supplied ATACMS ballistic missiles, was discovered upon reaching its firing position, ending up destroyed before firing its munitions, footage circulating online suggests. 

Russia fields heavier winged bombs

On Thursday, Russian Telegram channel Fighterbomber reported the first-ever use of a massive high explosive FAB-3000 aerial bomb fitted with a guidance module. To date, only smaller bombs such as high explosive FAB-250 and FAB-500, as well as thermobaric and cluster munitions fitted with the Universal Correction and Guidance Module (UMPK) winged upgrade kit saw action amid the hostilities.

The reported debut of FAB-3000 occurred in Liptsy, with the bomb hitting near a building used by the Ukrainian forces to station personnel. The blast left the building heavily damaged while obliterating smaller utility structures nearby, drone footage shared by the channel shows.

While the development has not been officially confirmed yet, it apparently indicates that the UMPK kit received a bigger brother, given that the original modules were too small to fit a FAB-3000. Should the new larger kit get adopted, the development potentially paves way for use of even larger bombs, such as FAB-6000 or even FAB-9000.