Ukrainian Forces Push Russians Back at Niu-York

Reinforcements Begin Arriving at the Pre-Kursk Frontline

Ukraine does not build continuous defensive lines like the Russians. They are not trying to occupy their neighbor’s house; it is their own house. The only way to defend your own house is by driving the squatter away. As a result, Ukraine is not very keen on building extensive defensive fortifications or miles of mines. Instead, they rely on a network of cities, towns, settlements, and the roads connecting them.

To defend Donetsk and Luhansk, Ukraine controls key locations such as Vulhedar, Marinka, Avdiivka, Toretsk, Klishiivka, and Bakhmut. If any of these towns fall, they threaten many settlements connected to that node. In many ways, these towns have become the Ukrainian anchors for defending the area. For example, as long as Bakhmut and Avdiivka were under Ukrainian control, Ukraine could manage the surrounding areas. The fall of these towns allowed the Russians to gain control over nearby regions. In Avdiivka, the Russians took a significant amount of land, whereas in Bakhmut, they did not advance as much.

Toretsk and Niu-York are two important defensive nodes for Ukraine in Donetsk.

Though the Avdiivka block has fallen, Ukraine still controls the Chasiv Yar and Toretsk blocks, as well as Vulhedar in southern Ukraine, which is another important node that requires protection.

From Russia’s perspective, capturing these nodal blocks becomes their core objective. All these nodes carry a significant target on their backs. Recently, the Russians have started threatening the Ukrainian lines near Toretsk and Niu-York.

The town was lost earlier this month, allowing Russia to threaten Ukrainian troops in Toretsk, further north of Niu-York. With the situation fluctuating near Pokrovsk and troops still pushing deeper and wider in Kursk, I wasn’t entirely sure whether Ukraine would choose to commit resources in this direction.

They seemed to adopt the Russian playbook but executed it much better. They deployed one of their elite units to the front. The 12th Special Purpose Azov Brigade was ordered to counterattack the Russian forces in Niu-York.

As you can see in the image below, the Russians had surrounded the Ukrainian troops fighting from the chemical plant in Niu-York

But the Azov Brigade quickly broke through the Russian lines, protecting the troops trapped in the plant.

According to analysts from Euromaidan Press, the plant offers significant tactical and strategic advantages:

The New York chemical plant offers formidable defensive advantages:

• High resistance to artillery and airstrikes is afforded by the plant’s high-rise factory buildings, constructed from concrete and reinforced materials;

• Valuable observation points provided by the factory’s structures allow Ukrainian forces to disrupt assaults with precision fire;

• Underground bunkers, likely a feature of the factory due to its economic importance in the Soviet era, provide cover from airstrikes and add another layer of defense.

The terrain surrounding the plant strengthens its defensive position even further:

• To the west, a river and a large pond create natural barriers that slow down any Russian assault, leaving advancing forces vulnerable to concentrated Ukrainian fire as they attempt to cross;

• To the east, lies a vast open area near railway tracks, where any Russian assault units would be exposed to Ukrainian fire from well-defended positions.

These geographic features significantly bolster the Ukrainian strategy, creating choke points and giving encircled troops the upper hand in the industrial zone.

I have no idea what the Ukrainian command plans to do. It will be a difficult balancing act between preserving the need to protect their territory along the older frontlines and expanding their presence by digging into the already occupied areas in Kursk Oblast.

If they want to defend their lines, they will need to secure positions near Vuhledar, Pokrovsk, Toretsk/Niu-York, and Chasiv Yar. Over the past two weeks, the defense of the older frontline has significantly improved compared to earlier periods.

It’s not because the Russians have slowed down their offensive tempo — though they do at times — but because Ukraine is redistributing its combat power along the older frontlines. They have not yet committed some of their newly formed brigades but are instead sending their elite units to specific areas. Two units were recently dispatched to the Pokrovsk front, and one unit was sent to Niu-York.

They’re throwing the Russian playbook back at them, and it’s working.

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