Ukraine update: The obscure, unheralded weapon that won the Battle of Vuhledar
kos for Daily Kos
Daily Kos Staff
Monday February 13, 2023 · 12:12 PM PST
A fighter with Kharkiv's Territorial Defense Force takes a break during training exercises
It just can’t be overstated just what a disaster Vuhledar has been for Russia’s war effort in Ukraine.
The area around Vuhledar has been a graveyard for Russia’s supposedly elite naval infantry since last November, when they got smacked on their way to taking the nearby town of Pavlivka. Eventually, Ukraine retreated from Pavlivka, but only because Vuhledar sits on high ground overlooking a valley. It was just easier to defend. Pavlivka is gray territory these days, sitting empty.
Unlike Bakhmut, Vuhledar has actual strategic value because of, you guessed it, logistics. From that perch, Ukraine has fire control over key Russian supply lines in the “land bridge” connecting mainland Russia to Crimea.
After reportedly reconstituting those naval decimated infantry units three times, Russia launched a new operation to take Vuhledar in late January. The results were the same. But thing is, repeated disaster hasn’t dissuaded Russia from trying, and trying again. In fact, Vuhledar is currently the hottest part of the front. Though, unlike Bakhmut, the heat is all being felt by just one side. The biggest reason? Mines. And not the mines we’re used to seeing, buried by engineers along suspected approaches.
Yes, Ukraine is flooding that approach with artillery and guided anti-tank missiles. But in video after Vuhledar video, most of the damage is being done by simple land mines. And therein lies the key to Vuhledar’s defense—a weapon the U.S. has been delivering for some time with absolutely zero fanfare.
Look at the Jan. 6 aid package from the United States:
Or the one from Oct. 4:
And Oct. 14:
Looking at past aid packages, it seems Ukraine first got them in September of last year, yet neither Mark Sumner nor I have ever dwelled on those, focusing on sexier line items like HIMARS ammunition, M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, or TANKS. So what are these RAAM systems?
They are a 155mm artillery shell with 9 anti-tank mines crammed inside. The shell is fired over a field. An airburst fuse pops the case open in the air, thus scattering the nine mines to the ground below.
This means that defenders can mine wide approaches without exposing engineers to enemy fire on dangerous missions to lay the mines. And that’s exactly what we’re seeing in Vuhledar. I shared one video above. Here’s another:
And another:
Russian sources have confirmed that it is, indeed, those RAAMs that are doing the damage:
They are only 12cm x 6cm, with 1.8 kgs of explosives in them. In inches, that’s 4.7’ x 2.35’, and 4 lbs of explosives. Those little guys sure do pack a punch! Russian sources note that these vehicles were destroyed on routes that had already been supposedly cleared by combat engineers. That’s the beauty of these rounds—Ukraine can plug any hole immediately.
Russia has reported seeing them around the entire front lines, from Kreminna-Svatove up north, all the way down to here. Undoubtedly more have been laid on the approach to Zaporizhzhia, in case Russia tries to advance in that direction.
Yesterday, Russia resumed its attacks on Vuhledar, but this time, they lacked armor. Just like around Bakhmut, Russia attacked with human waves of hapless infantry.
Either they ran out of armored vehicles after losing dozens in the last week or so, or they are so afraid of these small RAAMs that they’d rather kill off their remaining infantry than lose more vehicles attempting to protect them.
Amazing what those little guys have done to crush what was supposed to be Russia’s big winter offensive. Still, don’t celebrate just yet! Who knows what else Russia might have ready to go. But as of now, everything has fizzled.
It’s been fun watching Russian war blogger Rybar try to spin the Vuhledar disaster. The lede is delicious:
It’s Rybar, Russian media, so there’s some silliness as usual, claiming that the battle began when “the Russian Armed Forces took the enemy by surprise: during intense fighting, they advanced to the settlement.”
In the age of satellite surveillance and drones, the idea that an armored column could take Ukraine by surprise is patently absurd. There is no evidence that Russian forces ever made it anywhere into Vuhledar, and quite to the contrary, lots of evidence that they were stopped by the aforementioned minefields and other ambushes. Vuhledar literally has tall apartment buildings bristling with anti-tank crews overlooking the vast open approaches.
Russian artillery has been working to reduce those high-rises to rubble:
This picture is unbelievable. You can see those tall apartment buildings at the edge of town, giving Ukrainian defenders a clear view of the surrounding area.
The “cottage area” is also referred to as the “dachas.” This was a residential single-family home neighborhood, as opposed to the apartment buildings on the west side. Russia did, at some point, reportedly reach the dachas, and the area was home to fierce fighting, but it’s considered a gray zone now, occupied by no one. Rybar notes in its writeup the importance of remote mines in the city’s defense:
Rybar claims hundreds of Ukrainian losses in its failed attacks, which … whatever. Maybe, maybe not. Probably not. It’s an interesting alternate view of the battle; even if mostly fictional, elements of truth are likely embedded. And in the end, they admit what we all see in the videos above:
This story has a happy ending, and we’re seeing much of the same with Russia’s other offensive attempts at this time. However, there is a cautionary tale here—Ukraine would face exactly the same challenges when it eventually launches its next major counteroffensive.
Breaching open fields, against well-prepared defenses, under drone surveillance the entire time, through minefields, and under intense artillery barrage is brutally difficult, and will be bloody. This is why combined-arms warfare is so critical, it’s why the U.S. is currently training Ukrainians in it in Germany, and why it will take months more to drill the troops to execute this complicated choreography.
It takes a lot to go from what Russia disastrously attempted in Vuhledar, to a competent combined-arms breach like this:
Ukraine just said they need the US taxpayers to give them $40-48B ASAP to keep their Govt in business for 2023. This came from IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva. She noted that this will support a "war economy" and that the work is carried out jointly between the USA and EU. She also acknowledged most of the money sent in the past year HAS BEEN STOLEN (aka laundered back to Davos and the Uniparty via FTX)
Anyone remember Congress approving going to war with Russia? Stop this money laundering insanity now
“The program will be helped by the European Union, the US and others. We have to play our stabilizing role by being there for the Ukrainian economy and its people,” she said, adding that “a lot of folks globally are worried about the amount of money that is going to be poured into Ukraine and where it's going to end up.
“It is true that Ukraine had very serious problems with corruption and one of the reasons for the IMF to have consecutive problems with Ukraine was to work on creating the institutions that fight corruption and accountability mechanisms that reduce the probability of money being stolen,"
Anyone remember Congress approving going to war with Russia? Stop this money laundering insanity now
IMF chief says she needs $40-48 billion financial support plan for Ukraine
“The program will be helped by the European Union, the US and others. We have to play our stabilizing role by being there for the Ukrainian economy and its people,” she said, adding that “a lot of folks globally are worried about the amount of money that is going to be poured into Ukraine and where it's going to end up.
“It is true that Ukraine had very serious problems with corruption and one of the reasons for the IMF to have consecutive problems with Ukraine was to work on creating the institutions that fight corruption and accountability mechanisms that reduce the probability of money being stolen,"
