The Battle for DRUZHKIVKA Just Went HORRIBLY Wrong for Russia

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Become a Member Today and Unlock EXCLUSIVE Videos: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKfak8fBm_Lhy4eX9UKxEpA/join  A joint Ukrainian counter-clearing operation led by the Azov Brigade and the 425th Skelia Assault Regiment has defeated a major Russian attempt to encircle Druzhkivka in Donetsk. By isolating elements of Russia's 90th Tank Division and 8th Combined Arms Army, Ukrainian forces secured vital supply routes to Dobropillia and protected the Sloviansk-Kramatorsk Fortress Belt. Combined with groundbreaking autonomous ground-robotics mine clearance near Shandryholove under Operation Vivaldi, Moscow's summer offensive in Donetsk has dissolved into severe personnel losses and fabricated Kremlin propaganda.  ⏱️ CHAPTERS: 00:00 - Shattered Encirclement: The Defeat of Russian Forces at Druzhkivka 01:30 - Order of Battle: 90th Tank Division & 8th Combined Arms Army Interrupted 03:18 - 3-Step Clearing Operation: Area Isolation, Artillery Destruction, & Drone-Infantry Sweeps 05:32 - Defending the Donetsk Fortress Belt & Safeguarding Dobropillia 08:06 - World-First Tactical Deployment: Ground Robots Clear 30km of Minefields 10:04 - Multi-Sector Ukrainian Counter-Advances: Kupiansk, Chasiv Yar, & Oleksandrivka 12:32 - Kremlin Cognitive Warfare: Debunking Russian Encirclement Claims 14:21 - UNGA Narrative Manipulation & The Human Cost of Micro-Gains  Support us directly as we bring you independent, up-to-date reporting on military news and global conflicts by clicking here: https://www.youtube.com/@TheMilitaryShow/join  #militarystrategy #militarydevelopments #militaryanalysis #themilitaryshow  SOURCES: https://pastebin.com/

Transcript

00:01The battle for Druzhkivka had the potential to change everything for Russia.

00:06With victory, a route to Dobropylia would have become clearer,

00:09and Russia would come one step closer to moving into the fortress belt of cities in Donetsk.

00:15Ukraine couldn't let that happen, and it didn't.

00:18Everything has gone horribly wrong for Russia as Druzhkivka holds strong.

00:23An attempt to encircle has been shattered,

00:25and Russia has lost absolutely everything that it has been building towards since the summer.

00:29We mean that literally.

00:31In a September 23rd video report,

00:33the 1st Battalion of Ukraine's Azov Brigade Commander, who goes by the callsign Khorus,

00:39published a video.

00:40He revealed what Russia has been building up to do for months.

00:43The Russian occupation forces attempted to reach logistics routes to further develop offensive actions,

00:49aiming to operationally encircle the town of Druzhkivka in the Slovyansk-Kramatorsk agglomeration,

00:55as well as reach routes for a further strike toward the town of Dobropylia,

00:58Khorus reveals.

01:00Immediately, we see an attempt by Russia to push toward the fortress belt.

01:04Druzhkivka is a key link in the fortress belt,

01:06and the fall of either town would bring Russia a step closer to the Donetsk administrative border,

01:11and full control over the Donbas that Putin so desperately wants.

01:15It soon became clear that the enemy intended to form a staging area for their further actions,

01:20Khorus continues.

01:20Russia was trying hard to fill that stage.

01:24Before we explain how, subscribe and tell us what you think in the comments below.

01:28And if you want even more from the channel, consider becoming a member for access to exclusive content.

01:34Elements of the 90th Tank Division have been moved toward Druzhkivka, suggesting an attempt to use armour to push further

01:40forward.

01:41How much armour Russia would have been able to use is up for debate.

01:45Ukraine claims to have damaged or destroyed close to 12,400 Russian tanks and over 25,000 armoured fighting vehicles

01:53so far,

01:53meaning the 90th Tank Division probably doesn't have much of the one thing that it needs to be effective.

01:58Still, the division was pushing forward, and it was joined by elements of Russia's 8th Combined Arms Army.

02:04It's unclear which elements of that army were in play,

02:07as the 8th Combined Arms Army includes a pair of motor rifle divisions,

02:11an anti-aircraft missile brigade, engineer regiments and both artillery and missile brigades.

02:16But for Ukraine, any attempt by Russia to advance presented a clear danger,

02:21so Ukraine launched an operation of its own.

02:24As Russian forces attempted to encircle Druzhkivka, Ukraine launched a joint clearing operation.

02:30The Azov Brigade spearheaded everything.

02:32Its 1st and 6th Battalions were heavily involved in what was to come.

02:36But joining the Azov forces were Ukraine's Turman Special Operations Detachment,

02:40the Ultima Ratio Special Reconnaissance Unit,

02:43and the Shkval Battalion, which is part of the 425th Scalia Separate Assault Regiment.

02:48Add the Lazar Group, which provided additional support, and Ukraine had a force to be reckoned with.

02:53A multi-step operation began.

02:55By the end, the encirclement attempt was shattered,

02:58and Russia had lost a devastating number of soldiers,

03:01halting the push for Druzhkivka in a matter of days.

03:04The numbers vary depending on the source.

03:06According to the Kyiv Post, Ukraine's brilliant operation left 193 Russian soldiers dead,

03:11with 44 wounded and a further 3 captured.

03:15United24 Media shares the same wounded and captured figures,

03:18though it says that 237 Russian soldiers lost their lives.

03:22Either way, the result is the same.

03:24The Battle of Druzhkivka ended in Ukraine's favour.

03:27And here's how it happened.

03:29Three steps were needed to ruin Russia's entire summer's worth of gains.

03:33Step 1 was to isolate the area.

03:35The first task was to isolate the area where the enemy grouping had accumulated using firepower,

03:41prevent its further advance, and create favourable conditions for the movement of our assault groups, declares Khorus.

03:47With that task completed, Russia was forced into what it thought was a stalemate.

03:51Progression didn't just slow to a crawl, it halted completely,

03:54leaving Russia's forces with the task of trying to break through a new Ukrainian line.

03:58Those Russian forces never stood a chance.

04:01With the enemy isolated, Ukraine's joint forces next focused on Russia's means of attack.

04:06Artillery became the target, and it was artillery units that next came under heavy fire.

04:12Using its own FPV drones, bomber drones and artillery, Ukraine battered the Russian positions.

04:18Russia's firepower was lost.

04:19Even as Russia tried to take advantage of heavy vegetation and split its forces into smaller groups,

04:25Ukraine struck the metal that the Russian machine tries to use to do damage.

04:29With the artillery down, came the third step, moving in and destroying the Russian forces.

04:34That was no easy task.

04:35Russia's forces had dispersed when it became clear that Ukraine was launching an offensive.

04:40Taking them out would mean hunting the infiltrators down, and that's a risk for any infantry unit.

04:45Luckily, Ukraine's infantry had support from the weapon that has been the difference maker for Ukraine throughout the war, drones.

04:52If it was difficult to clear the enemy out because of shelters or the risk of our personnel being killed

04:57or wounded,

04:57we struck them both with our own weapons and those of the 12th Brigade, using FPV drones and bombers,

05:03reports the commander of the Skval Battalion, who goes by the callsign Zamok.

05:07We've seen this before.

05:09This is Ukraine's seek-and-destroy method of clearing out Russian forces.

05:13Ukraine sends in the drones first, conducting reconnaissance, as it zeroes in on Russian positions.

05:18Then come the FPV and bomber drones, which batter those positions, all while the recon drones keep a watchful eye.

05:26Then come the infantry.

05:27Whatever Russian soldiers aren't already dead, soon will be.

05:31Ukraine claims the position and moves on to the next.

05:34Bit by bit, an entire summer's worth of progress toward Drozkivka fell apart.

05:39Russia lost absolutely everything, and its attempts to encircle Drozkivka on no more.

05:44And that matters for several reasons.

05:47The fortress belt we mentioned is one of those reasons.

05:49Ukraine's main goal in Donetsk right now is to keep Russia as far away from the collection of cities as

05:54possible.

05:55Those cities are the last barrier between Russia's forces and the Donetsk administrative border,

06:00which is why capturing them has been Russia's main objective in 2026.

06:04That much was made clear back in January, and even then it was being claimed as an unrealistic goal by

06:10anybody who was paying attention to the battlefield.

06:12Russia was still mired in Pokrovsk, and it had a long way to go before it hit the fortress belt.

06:17Russian progress has been made since then, but the belt has its name for a reason.

06:22Spanning about 50 kilometers, the fortress belt is made up of four cities, including Slovyansk and Kramatorsk that we mentioned.

06:28Ever since Putin launched his initial campaign of aggression, Ukraine has poured time, money, and resources into turning the fortress

06:36belt into a death trap.

06:37There is a huge amount of defensive infrastructure around these cities.

06:41On top of that, taking each city requires Russia to engage in urban warfare, fighting in close quarters.

06:47And that only comes after several bodies of water that need to be crossed to enable attacks in the first

06:52place.

06:52The fortress belt is churning through Russian soldiers as we speak.

06:56But for Ukraine, keeping as many soldiers as far away as possible ensures that the fortress belt holds even longer.

07:02For Russia, that means more dead troops, more destroyed equipment, and the slow whittling away of its offensive capacity in

07:09Donetsk.

07:09According to AA, Russia's defense ministry has noted that taking control over Dobropylia would mean snatching away a key Ukrainian

07:17logistical hub in Donetsk.

07:18Ukraine uses the city as a transport hub, through which it supplies forces throughout the Donbass and into the Dnipropetrovsk

07:25region.

07:26Crushing the Russian encirclement of Truskivka means Russia isn't going to take Dobropylia any time soon, and by extension, that

07:32protects the fortress belt cities of Slovyansk and Kramatorsk.

07:36Not that you would know that Russia has failed in everything it's trying to do if you listen to Russia

07:40itself, but we'll be getting to that.

07:43First, this is a reminder that you're watching the military show.

07:45This is why we make videos, to show you what's really happening on the battlefields of Ukraine.

07:50If you like what you see, don't forget to subscribe and enable notifications so you catch all of our videos.

07:56It's clear that Ukraine's tactical brilliance has once again shone through in Dnipropetrovsk, but it gets worse for Russia.

08:02Ukraine's operations aren't limited to a single sector of the battlefield.

08:07Neither is the brilliance that is bringing Russia's forces to their knees.

08:10We head next to the Chandra-Halova axis.

08:13Also in the Donetsk oblast and located in the Kramatorsk region, Chandra-Halova is a tiny village near the city

08:19of Lima that had a population of just 207 people in 2025.

08:23Chandra-Halova seems unimportant to the casual observer.

08:27It's just one tiny rural village in a country that is filled with thousands of them.

08:31But on the Chandra-Halova axis, Russia's forces have been hard at work laying mines that they hoped would be

08:36enough to stop Ukraine's ground forces from pushing forward and mounting their defense of Kramatorsk.

08:42Something had to be done about those mines.

08:45Traditionally, that would involve sending out sappers who would painstakingly comb through the battlefield on the hunt for the mines.

08:51That's a slow process that involves a lot of risk and the delay alone could have been enough to support

08:56Russian advances elsewhere, such as the attempts we saw in Drozkivka.

08:59But Ukraine has a trick up its sleeve.

09:02Ground robots were deployed in the Chandra-Halova sector in what is a world-first mine clearance operation inside a

09:08live offensive.

09:09According to Euromiden Press, Ukraine's 3rd Army Corps used robots to clear out a staggering 30 kilometers of mine-laden

09:17routes in just two nights.

09:19That work would have required a full week to finish when using a full two companies of sappers.

09:23Now, ground robots are lifting about 60% of the mines that Russia lays in the 3rd Army Corps' area

09:29of operation.

09:30This is devastating for Russia, and it likely explains why Ukraine is now able to launch more joint operations to

09:36retake territory and shatter Russian offensives.

09:39Five days is a long time on the battlefields of Ukraine.

09:42If Ukraine is now able to save that many days by using robots instead of sappers, its speed to engagement

09:49elsewhere experiences a massive boost.

09:51And indeed, the 3rd Army Corps has liberated 125 square kilometers of Donetsk during the first two phases of what

09:57it's calling Operation Vivaldi.

10:00Chandra-Halova was among the villages that Ukraine took back.

10:03What we're seeing here is the gradual dismantling of Russia's entire Donetsk offensive.

10:08Expand the scope over the entire battlefield and we're seeing this pattern of Ukrainian pushbacks repeat.

10:14Ukraine is gaining ground in Donetsk, which has reversed much of the progress Russia's forces made in the summer

10:19and ruined Putin's plans for the Donbass to fall by the end of 2026.

10:24But according to the Kyiv Post, we have also seen Ukraine make tactical gains across several other sectors.

10:30In Kupyansk, Ukraine controls the city that gives the region its name and has been pushing Russia back.

10:35We see similar gains in Oleksandrivka and in Popetrovsk.

10:39And returning to Donetsk, Ukraine is making gains in the Liman region and the Chaziv-Yar tactical area.

10:45Geo-located footage shows that Ukraine has advanced north of Kupyansk as it moves west of the settlement of Kalinova.

10:52Even Russia has confirmed that.

10:54The Kyiv Post says that a source from Russia's western grouping of forces has confirmed that Ukrainian troops are now

11:00operating close to Kalinova

11:02and north of the settlement of Kindrasivka.

11:04We can't overstate what we're seeing here.

11:06Ukraine has claimed Kupyansk outright.

11:09And it's now using the city to push back against Russian forces that were attempting to flank in an attempt

11:14to launch renewed assaults.

11:15In Chaziv-Yar, we've seen Ukraine advance southwest of the settlement toward both central and eastern Molachaka.

11:22Ukraine is also gaining ground east of Stinka, which is northeast of the fortress belt city of Konstantinivka.

11:28The Liman direction also isn't safe for Russia.

11:31It's already lost a salient to a brutal Ukrainian counterattack there.

11:35Now Ukraine's forces are pushing toward the Zerebets river,

11:39likely aiming to push Russia back across one of those bodies of water we've mentioned, as well as toward Yampil.

11:44In Dnipro-Betrovsk, Ukraine's forces are both south and southeast of the settlement of Novopavlivka.

11:50And finally, Ukraine has liberated the settlement of Shevchenko, advanced north of Vilna Pola,

11:56and has moved about 2.5 kilometers closer to Polatska, all in the Oleksandrivka direction.

12:02We can't overstate how devastating all of this is for Russia.

12:05Not only has it lost the ability to encircle Drozkivka, which itself amounts to the reversal of gains made during

12:12the summer,

12:12but Russia is actively losing territory all over the battlefield.

12:16Putin is raging.

12:182026 was supposed to be the year that Donetsk fell, and finally,

12:22Russia would have evidence that it's strong enough to hold all of the cards in peace negotiations.

12:27Instead, we're seeing everything Russia achieved this year fall apart,

12:30as Ukraine counters, liberates, and outright stops Russia in its tracks.

12:35It's safe to say that Russia isn't taking any of this well.

12:39As its forces fall apart all over Ukraine,

12:41Russia has resorted to doing something that it's been doing throughout 2026,

12:45lying about gains that it hasn't made.

12:48As we approach the end of September,

12:50Russia is claiming to have encircled Ukrainian troops in the northern region of the Kharkiv Oblast.

12:55For those who don't know, Kupiansk is in Kharkiv.

12:57So we're seeing Russia claiming to have Ukraine on the ropes

13:00in a region where Russia is clearly losing ground.

13:04Claims are being made with no evidence to back them up.

13:06For instance, the Russian news agency TASF reported on September 26th

13:10that Russia's defense ministry made an interesting claim.

13:13The Ukrainian army's losses in the encirclement exceeded 50 troops,

13:17an armored combat vehicle, two cars, an ATV,

13:20and a multiple rocket system launcher, the ministry declared.

13:23All of this happened in 24 hours as a result of the encirclement.

13:27Or so Russia claims.

13:29Russia is lying.

13:30In its September 23rd Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment,

13:34the Institute for the Study of War, or ISW,

13:37lambasted the Russian claims as baseless

13:39and said that they are part of the Kremlin's cognitive warfare campaign

13:43to portray Ukrainian defenses as collapsing.

13:47There is no encirclement.

13:48Yet Russia keeps on making these claims.

13:50In Dobropylia, Russia is also claiming to have encircled Ukrainian forces.

13:55You may remember that settlement as the one that Russia was trying to reach

13:58via its attempts to surround Drozhkivka.

14:00Ukraine ruined Russia's advance in that settlement.

14:03Which leads us to ask how Russia could have possibly encircled the town

14:06it has failed to reach.

14:08The simple answer is that it hasn't.

14:10ISW has observed no evidence to support the Russian MOD's encirclement claims

14:14both in the northern Kharkiv Oblast and around Dobropylia, the ISW reports.

14:19Russia has been desperately trying to make it seem as though the country's forces are advancing

14:23at a rapid pace as we approach the end of September.

14:27And there's good reason why.

14:28All of these claims started appearing both before and during the United Nations General Assembly,

14:33which was held between September 21st and 28th.

14:37Suddenly it all becomes clear.

14:38Russia was trying to showcase a level of dominance that it simply doesn't have,

14:42so it could use that assembly to argue that the collapse of Ukraine is inevitable.

14:46We see similar claims, which are later revealed to be lies,

14:49whenever there's a possibility that peace talks may restart.

14:52Russia is trying to act as though it holds the cards it doesn't have.

14:56Putin wants leverage and his forces are failing to get it for him.

14:59We saw that in Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's speech at the UN General Assembly,

15:04where he accused the West of helping Ukraine by providing drones and weapons used to strike Russian civilians.

15:10The hypocrisy is there for anybody with eyes to see, of course.

15:14But Lavrov's attempt at a power play came in this statement.

15:17Our fight for truth and justice will be brought to an end.

15:20The objectives of the Special Military Operation will be achieved,

15:24and threats to our security will be eliminated.

15:27None of the objectives are close to being achieved.

15:29In fact, Russia is further away than it was before the summer,

15:33and it's all due to Ukraine being far stronger than Russia wants the world to believe.

15:37The reality is that none of what Russia claims to be happening is actually happening.

15:41Russia hasn't encircled 1,500 troops in Kharkiv, as it claims,

15:45and it's certainly nowhere close to encircling Dobropylia.

15:49Druskivka would have to be captured before that happens,

15:51and we've just seen how Ukraine has shattered the Russian advance there.

15:54What we're really seeing here is a deluded old fool in Vladimir Putin

15:58either being misled or outright lying to make Russia appear stronger.

16:02Nobody is buying it anymore.

16:04The boasts of fake victories have become half of the course for Russia in 2026,

16:08and even in late 2025, when Russia was claiming to have taken Kupiansk.

16:12There is a credibility gap between the Kremlin claims and battlefield realities,

16:17which makes Putin's attempts to project Russian power look more and more ridiculous as each month passes.

16:23Putin wants to assuage the growing anger in his own country with these claims.

16:27But as the Atlantic Council points out,

16:29he also wants Western leaders to believe that Russia is doing far better

16:33than all of the evidence that is clear for those leaders to see is telling them.

16:36We saw that when Putin met special US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff earlier in September.

16:42Putin claimed Russia was making real progress.

16:45Tell us, Putin, what looks like real progress in anything that we've talked about today?

16:49Still, Russia's leader tries to maintain the charade,

16:52even though the curtain has been lifted and the reality of the battlefield is plain for all to see.

16:57Putin still claims that Donetsk is going to fall in a few months.

17:01That's according to Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky,

17:04who says that this is the 17th or 18th time that Putin has claimed that the fall of Donetsk is

17:10imminent.

17:10Even Ukraine is losing count of the false claims.

17:13Almost five years of failure in Donetsk is Putin's Ukraine war legacy right now.

17:18In 2026 alone, Russia has lost close to 250,000 soldiers

17:22in exchange for just over 1,000 square kilometers of territory gained all across Ukraine,

17:28you remind in press reports.

17:30That's reality.

17:31250 casualties for every square kilometer gained,

17:34all as Ukraine liberates territory and rocks the foundations of an offensive

17:38that was supposed to end Donetsk in 2026, but is now simply not going to happen at all.

17:44The fortress belt still stands.

17:46Russian encirclements are either being destroyed or are outright lies.

17:49And Putin keeps babbling away, telling a make-believe story

17:52and acting as if everybody should believe in his grandiose work of fiction.

17:57Things are only going to get worse in Donetsk too,

17:59as Russia has lost a couple of key generals who were a huge part of its plans for the region.

18:05You can find out all about that by watching our video.

18:07But before you go, this channel is built by real people who care about getting the story right.

18:12Subscribe, join the conversation below, and consider becoming a member to support human-made,

18:17military reporting, and unlock exclusive content.

18:20And thank you for watching.

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