The 2023 Ukrainian counteroffensive was a major offensive against Russian forces occupying Ukrainian territory with the goal of breaching the front lines. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] Efforts were made in many directions, primarily in the Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia oblasts. In total, Ukraine recaptured 14 villages with a total pre-war population of around 5,000 but suffered heavy casualties in the process. [6] [7] [8] Western officials have said that such losses were not unexpected for attacking forces. [9] [10] Casualty estimates for Ukrainian forces during the counteroffensive range from 90,000 [11] to 400,000. [12] The counteroffensive was widely regarded as a crucial moment in the war but also as a failure for Ukrainian forces. [13] [14]
The 1st Guards Tank Red Banner Army is a tank army of the Russian Ground Forces.
The 144th Guards Yelnya Red Banner Order of Suvorov Motor Rifle Division is a motorized infantry division of the Russian Ground Forces, reestablished in 2016 with its headquarters at Yelnya, Smolensk Oblast.
The Ukrainian Ground Forces, also referred to as the Ukrainian army, are the land forces of Ukraine and one of the eight branches of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. They were formed from Ukrainian units of the Soviet Army after Ukrainian independence, and trace their ancestry to the 1917–22 army of the Ukrainian People's Republic.
The 18th Army of the Soviet Union's Red Army was formed on 21 June 1941 on the basis of HQ Kharkov Military District and armies of the Kiev Special Military District.
The 72nd Mechanized Brigade named after theBlack Zaporozhians is a formation of the Ukrainian Ground Forces. It was previously named the 29th Rifle Division and then the 72nd Guards Rifle Division of the Soviet Ground Forces. In 1957, it became a motor rifle division.
The 128th Mountain Assault Brigade is a formation of the Ukrainian Ground Forces.
The 30th Prince Konstanty Ostrogski Mechanized Brigade is a formation of the Ukrainian Ground Forces. The full name of the unit is 30th Independent Mechanized Brigade "Konstanty Ostrogski".
The 17th Tank Brigade is a brigade of the Ukrainian Ground Forces formed in 1940. The full name of the brigade is the 17th Kryvyi Rih Tank Brigade, named after Kostiantyn Pestushko.
The 93rd Separate Mechanized Brigade "Kholodnyi Yar" is a formation of the Ukrainian Ground Forces formed in 1992. It has been described as "one of the most brutally effective" of Ukraine’s front-line brigades.
The 3rd Guards Tank Army was a tank army established by the Soviet Union's Red Army during World War II. The 3rd Tank Army was created in 1942 and fought in the southern areas of the Soviet Union and Poland, then in Germany and Czechoslovakia until the defeat of Germany in 1945. Postwar, the army served as occupation troops in East Germany, went through several name changes, and was finally deactivated in 1969.
The 20th Guards Carpathian-Berlin Motor Rifle Division is a formation of the Russian Ground Forces, originally formed within the Soviet Red Army as the 3rd Mechanised Corps. The division was reformed in 2021 from the former 20th Guards Motor Rifle Brigade.
The 41st Guards Combined Arms Army is a field army of the Russian Ground Forces, currently part of the Central Military District. Originally, it was formed in 1942 as part of the Soviet Red Army, during World War II. It was reformed in 1998, when the Transbaikal Military District and Siberian Military District were amalgamated.
This is the order of battle for the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It should not be considered complete; up-to-date; nor fully accurate, being based on open-source press reporting.
The 3rd Army Corps is a military formation of the Russian Ground Forces formed in June 2022 to participate in the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The 3rd Corps was raised in response to the depletion of trained manpower during the early months of the invasion. It was formed exclusively by volunteers, as at that point Russia had not yet begun the process of partial mobilization and preferred to avoid or delay doing so. Recruitment was on a regional basis, with federal subject administrations and local authorities conducting recruitment campaigns. Its planned strength was estimated to comprise 15,000–60,000 personnel, but as of January 2023, it only had 10,000–15,000. It originally belonged to the Western Military District, before moving under the command of the Central Military District in 2023.
The 47th Separate Mechanized Brigade "Magura" is a brigade of the Ukrainian Ground Forces formed in 2022.
The 82nd Separate Air Assault Brigade is a unit of the Ukrainian Air Assault Forces. The brigade is located in Chernivtsi.
The 42nd Separate Mechanized Brigade is a mechanized infantry brigade of the Ukrainian Ground Forces.
This is the order of battle for the 2024 Kharkiv offensive.
In June 2023, a battle took place around the village of Mala Tokmachka as part of the 2023 Ukrainian counteroffensive and during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
On 18 July 2024, Russian forces began an offensive with the goal of capturing the strategically important city of Pokrovsk. Pokrovsk serves as an important supply route and as a transportation hub for the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Ukrainian soldiers on this part of the front are mostly made of poorly trained conscripts who reportedly had little to no training. Many Ukrainian conscripts had been reported to have deserted over the course of the offensive. The increased level of desertion has resulted in Ukrainian commanders increasing the use of blocking detachments.