Russians Avoiding 'Head-On' Battles With Ukraine's Bradleys: Commander

Russian forces in eastern Ukraine are reluctant to take on U.S.-supplied infantry fighting vehicles on the front lines, Ukraine's military said, despite what it described as the "fatigue" plaguing one of Kyiv's most prominent brigades.

"Russians know what a Bradley is," a Ukrainian armored vehicle commander, named as Kristmas, said in remarks published to social media by Ukraine's battle-hardened 47th Mechanized Brigade on Sunday. "They do not want to meet this machine head-on. I probably wouldn't want to if I were them either."

Ukraine's 47th Mechanized Brigade, which has been deep in the hotspots of fighting in eastern Ukraine, has been the sole known operator of the U.S.-donated Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, as well as the U.S.'s M1 Abrams main battle tanks.

The U.S. has sent more than 300 Bradleys to Ukraine, plus four Bradley support vehicles, according to Pentagon documents.

A commander with the 47th Mechanized Brigade told Newsweek in January 2024 that Russian soldiers were "afraid" to launch operations "when they know that a Bradley will be against them."

Across the hundreds of miles of front line snaking through eastern Ukraine, armored vehicles and tanks on both sides are wary of the other's artillery fire, and they must also keep a keen eye out for incoming drone strikes.

The Steel Front Initiative, a push involving several businesses steered by Ukrainian billionaire Rinet Akhmetov, has developed metal structures to shield the Abrams, and now the Bradleys, from Russia's explosive, or kamikaze, first-person view (FPV) drones.

A new sliding screen, to be fitted onto the Bradleys, was "successful in testing" completed late last month, Oleksandr Myronenko, chief operating officer at the steel and mining-focused Metinvest Group, previously told Newsweek.

"Drones, now, at the present moment, are the biggest danger for the tanks and for any kind of armored vehicles which the Ukrainian army uses," Myronenko had said. FPV drones can damage part of the tank, including immobilizing the vehicle, making the advanced Western tank a sitting duck for a follow-up drone hit, or anti-tank missiles and artillery, he added in June.

"Russian artillery is always working" to seek out the Bradleys, the 47th Mechanized Brigade said on Sunday, "but the main problem is kamikaze drones."

"There are more and more of them, and the enemy is developing this area very dynamically," the brigade said.

The 47th's fighters have been mired down west of the Russian-held Donetsk city of Avdiivka for 10 months, and "fatigue is what you can see on the faces of our soldiers," the brigade said.

Russia has slowly, but steadily, gained territory in eastern Ukraine since the start of the year, claiming Avdiivka in February 2024 and moving west in the months since.

Moscow's forces have inched toward the strategic defensive city of Pokrovsk, and Ukraine has consistently reported the fiercest clashes along this section of the front line. Russia opened up a new front in Ukraine's northeastern Kharkiv region in early May, and Ukraine said the fresh cross-border offensive was designed to overstretch Kyiv's resources in the east.

On Sunday, Russia's defense ministry said its forces had captured Novoselivka Persha, a settlement west of Avdiivka and southeast of Pokrovsk.

Ukraine's General Staff said on Monday that Russia had launched 30 attacks close to Pokrovsk in the past day, with the "main efforts" around the village of Zhelanne — immediately west of Novoselivka Persha — and Novooleksandrivka, northeast of Zhelanne.

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