Ukraine Calls For More US Javelins After Stunning Marinka Blitz

Ukrainian fighters in the eastern Donetsk region need more Javelin anti-tank weapons, a Ukrainian brigade has said, after one of its soldiers took out a slew of Russian armored vehicles in a single attack in one of the most fiercely contested areas of the frontlines.

On Monday, Ukraine's airborne forces said a Ukrainian paratrooper had used a Javelin anti-tank missile to take out four Russian armored vehicles in a single battle, thwarting the Russian operation. The soldier, identified as Andrii G., was part of the country's 79th Separate Airborne Assault Brigade deployed along the frontlines in the contested Donetsk region, the Ukrainian military said.

"The skillful soldier brought his personal count of destroyed enemy equipment to 22 units," the airborne forces added in a statement.

Yaroslav Chepurny, spokesperson for the 79thSeparate Airborne Assault Brigade, told Newsweek that the destruction of the slew of Russian armored vehicles took place around the leveled Donetsk village of Marinka, which Russia said it had captured at the end of last year.

Back in February 2023, Andrii G. destroyed three Russian tanks and five of Moscow's BMP infantry fighting vehicles in a single attack, he said. His actions "saved a very difficult situation," Yaroslav added. Andrii G. has been awarded the Gold Star Order by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, making him a hero of Ukraine, he said.

The U.S.-made Javelins are "powerful anti-tank weapons" that the brigade has learned to use "very effectively," Yaroslav said. Ukrainian troops fighting around the Donetsk time could use more Javelins, he added, saying fighting around this part of the frontline "is difficult, and they help us a lot."

Another soldier in the brigade has used the Javelins to take out 40 units of Russian equipment, according to Yaroslav. In its initial announcement on Monday, the 79th Airborne said paratroopers in the area had already damaged or destroyed 29 Russian combat vehicles in the week since the start of the new year.

The U.S. has equipped Ukraine with more than 10,000 Javelin anti-armor systems, according to the Pentagon. The Javelins, which Washington started sending to Ukraine in the early weeks of Russia's full-scale invasion nearly two years ago, is a shoulder-fired weapon that analysts quickly said helped Ukraine's light infantry take down formidable Russian mechanized forces.

In late August 2023, U.S. defense giant Lockheed Martin said was almost doubling the current Javelin production rate from 2,100 per year to just under 4,000 by 2026, working alongside American defense contractor Raytheon.

Russia said in late December that its forces were in full control of Marinka, which Ukraine initially denied. But Kyiv's top soldier, General Valery Zaluzhnyi, then confirmed that Ukrainian forces had retreated to the northern flank of the town.

Marinka has been evacuated, largely left in ruins after clashes between Ukrainian forces pitted against Russian and Moscow-backed forces.

The town is west of the regional capital, Donetsk City, close to a collection of settlements on the current frontline in the region.

Serhiy Hrabsky, a military analyst and former Ukrainian army colonel, told Newsweek shortly before the new year that Ukraine's grasp around the village of Novomykhailivka "will significantly deteriorate" in light of Russian advances in Marinka.

Novomykhailivka is just south of Marinka, and Russia is thought to have advanced around the settlement in recent weeks. Geolocated footage published on January 9 suggests that Russian forces advanced in southern Novomykhailivka on December 26, the U.S. think tank, Institute for the Study of War, said in its latest analysis.

Russian sources have suggested that Moscow's troops are hoping to reach the village of Heorhiivka, immediately west of Marinka, to capture the town of Kurakhove, the ISW previously noted. Hrabsky told Newsweek on December 27 that this was a likely tactic before Russia tried to move on towards the Donetsk border with the Dnipropetrovsk region.

But Western analysts questioned whether Russia will be able to launch successful mechanized maneuvers after significant armored vehicle losses. The Kremlin's push on the town of Avdiivka, northeast of Marinka, is thought to have come at an eye-watering cost in both Russian lives and key military equipment like armored vehicles.

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