Frontline report: Ukraine’s demolition squads turn Toretsk high-rises into Russian trap

Today, there are a lot of updates from the Toretsk direction in Donetsk Oblast of Ukraine.

Here, the Ukrainians intensified their raids and strikes against Russian forces positioned in the central high-rise building district, destroying the residential complex together with the Russians and diminishing its tactical value. As powerful Ukrainian attacks in this area are expected to generate advances, Russians decided to switch the focus of fighting in Toretsk to the southern part of the city.

Previously, Ukrainian forces began raiding the high district with demolition squads, destroying entire Russian positions. Combat footage reveals intense fighting in the area, with Ukrainian raids continuing for over a month, leaving much of Toretsk’s high-rise section heavily damaged. This destruction has significantly reduced the tactical value of the high-rise complex as a base for defensive and offensive operations, depriving Russian forces of critical coverage.

The fall of Russian high-rise positions

The situation allowed Ukrainian drone operators to target the weakened Russian positions with ease, as many Russian troops were left exposed in open areas or through gaps in walls and roofs. Combat footage shows desperate Russian soldiers, lacking adequate cover, attempting to play dead to avoid being hit by drones. However, Ukrainian operators saw through this tactic and struck them regardless.

With Ukrainian drones controlling the high-rises, Russian firing positions and drone bases were completely compromised, forcing Russian troops to remain inside. This enabled Ukrainian forces to send more combat engineers to intensify demolition efforts, blowing up additional high-rise buildings while the Russians were trapped inside.

Combat footage shows Ukrainian demolition squads dismounting from American M113 armored personnel carriers, suppressing limited Russian small-arms fire, and consolidating their position. They then placed explosives near Russian-held buildings, reboarded their vehicles, and detonated the charges, completing the operation without any losses. 

Russians shifted to the southern Zabalka district

With their high-rise positions compromised and ineffective for launching assaults, Russian forces redirected their focus to the Zabalka district in southern Toretsk. This area, primarily consisting of single-story residential houses, lies in unfavorable terrain beneath two towering mine waste dumps exceeding 100 meters in height. The exposed position left Russian troops vulnerable to Ukrainian forces, who could easily target them with precise mortar and artillery fire.

Despite these tactical disadvantages, advancing on Zabalka became crucial for the Russians to stabilize their logistics in Toretsk, particularly following the destruction of multiple high-rises. Capturing Zabalka would serve two strategic purposes:

• Protect the southern flank of their forces in the high-rise area
• Establish a key supply route through the district.

This new route could potentially replace Central Street in Toretsk’s main section, which remains under the control of Ukrainian FPV drones. Thus, Russian supply lines and operational capabilities in the area would be improved.

Russian costly mistake

The Russian command appeared to overlook the Ukrainian observation posts and firing positions on the mine waste dumps when they launched an assault on Zabalka. Initially, Russian forces made confident gains as the area was relatively distant from the main Ukrainian-controlled positions. However, as they approached the mine waste dumps, their advance was abruptly halted by Ukrainian fire control from these elevated positions. The height advantages allowed the Ukrainians to hold the line with fewer troops, effectively leveraging multiple elevation levels. This advantage was further amplified by Ukrainian drone operators who swiftly targeted Russian positions below, as seen in combat footage that captured Russian troops being detected and quickly struck.

Overall, the successful actions of Ukrainian demolition squads caused a chain of events that forced the Russians to improvise assaults on the southern flank. Despite the new supply road through Zabalka, it will likely face increasing drone strikes and artillery fire due to Ukraine’s strong observation points on the mine waste dumps. While Russian gains in Zabalka may provide short-term stabilization of their defenses, they remain unable to advance north of the high-rise area where Ukrainian defenses are holding firm. If this trend continues, Ukrainian forces can destroy the remaining high-rises with explosives, effectively neutralizing the most promising Russian attack vector and opening counterattack opportunities.

In our regular frontline report, we pair up with the military blogger Reporting from Ukraine to keep you informed about what is happening on the battlefield in the Russo-Ukrainian war.