Unit Observer
During the last months of 2024, 🇷🇺Russian forces continued their advance and drove a deep wedge between Vuhledar and Velyka Novosilka. Units of the 🇷🇺29th Combined Arms Army, the 36th Motor Rifle Brigade in particular, managed to achieve 10-kilometer advances in a single day - relatively impressive figures in the “post-2022” positional conflict. The 🇷🇺40th Naval Infantry and 5th Tank brigades advanced on the 36th’s left flank. The 🇺🇦23rd Mechanized Brigade was rushed to the area, attempting to support two battlegroups based on the 48th Assault Battalion and 169th Training Center, but the eastern flank of Velyka Novosilka had essentially collapsed. Battles would develop similarly north of Vuhledar despite higher force density on the Ukrainian side, culminating in the fall of Kurakhove by the first week of 2025.
