Ukraine’s drones finally beat the fog—11 Russian tanks burn near Myrnohrad
- Ukrainian troops are still fighting in Myrnohrad despite Russian efforts to close the pocket
- Russian 40th Naval Infantry Brigade attacked with turtle tanks, hoping fog would hide them
- Ukrainian drones destroyed 11 armored vehicles despite poor visibility
- Ukraine's anti-fog tactics—ground robots, signals intelligence, AI—are keeping defenders in the fight
The Russians are redoubling their efforts to close the Myrnohrad pocket. Ukrainian forces are fighting hard to keep open a narrow escape corridor for troops still defending the former mining town with a pre-war population of 46,000.
With almost all of neighboring Pokrovsk under Russian control following a bloody yearlong siege, Myrnohrad is now one of the main focal points of fighting in eastern Ukraine. The town's fall would remove one of the last major urban obstacles between Russian forces and the twin cities of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk—the largest Ukrainian-held cities in Donetsk Oblast with a combined pre-war population of 400,000.
Five-to-one odds in Russia's favor
Around 150,000 Russians from the Center Group of Forces are relentlessly attacking the approximately 30,000 Ukrainian troops with the 1st Azov Corps and 7th Rapid Response Corps. The Russians are determined to capture or surround Myrnohrad as soon as possible in order to clear one of the last large urban strongpoints on the road to Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, 40 km to the north.
Turtle tanks in the fog
Russian infantry is abundant in and around Myrnohrad, but it wasn't infantry who led the most recent push to encircle the town from the north and cut across the barely 1-km Ukrainian-controlled corridor leading out toward the main defensive line.
The Russian 40th Naval Infantry Brigade attacked with up-armored turtle tanks and other vehicles on Tuesday, clearly hoping a low-clinging fog would obscure the mechanized assault from overhead surveillance and attack. Winter weather has been aiding Russian advances across the front—morning fog and frozen ground facilitate movement while Ukrainian reconnaissance drones struggle to monitor enemy movements.
It didn't work. The Russians were still kilometers from the wide no-man's-land when disaster struck.
"The equipment was moving across the field," the 7th Rapid Reaction Corps reported. "One of the tanks got stuck in an anti-tank ditch, after which the column was quickly taken under fire control."
11 armored vehicles destroyed in single engagement
Drones from the 7th Rapid Reaction Corps barreled down. The Ukrainian 68th Jaeger Brigade's artillery joined in. The Ukrainians knocked out three tanks and eight other armored vehicles around the village of Razine—a significant blow to Russian mechanized capability in the sector.
How Ukraine sees through the fog
How the Ukrainians saw through the fog is unclear. The thick haze typical of Ukrainian winters can blind and ground many drones, but Ukrainian forces have been scrambling to develop new tactics and technology to counter the problem.
Ukrainian counter-fog innovations include:
- Ground robots as spotters: Ukraine has been testing over 70 land drone models that can lie in wait, spotting passing Russian vehicles and passing their coordinates to drone pilots who fly blindly until their targets become visible at close range.
- Signals intelligence: Ukrainian forces have employed signals eavesdropping to triangulate Russian locations by way of their radio chatter. Systems like the Eter mobile electronic warfare system can detect enemy signals and geolocate radio emitters.
- AI-enhanced drones: Ukraine has added AI algorithms to some first-person-view drones. The AI can spot targets in the fog better than human operators can—a capability that has proven valuable against Russia's growing electronic warfare presence.
Myrnohrad holds—for now
Whichever method the Ukrainians used, it worked—for now. Myrnohrad remains contested despite the Russians' overwhelming manpower advantage and the foggy weather that typically blunts the Ukrainians' robotic edge.
One Ukrainian drone operator expects the mechanized assaults to continue. "There are no signs that they are going to stop," Kriegsforscher wrote about the Russian marines.
What comes next: tactical withdrawal or continued defense?
It's probably only a matter of time before the 7th Rapid Reaction Corps pulls its last troops from Myrnohrad and straightens out its defenses north of the settlement in the direction of the village of Dobropillia. "The withdrawal of elements of Ukrainian defense forces from Myrnohrad toward the Dobropillia area could affect the overall situation," the Ukrainian Center for Defense Strategies noted.
In the short term, Ukrainian positions would grow stronger from the redeployment of troops currently fighting a hopeless defense in Myrnohrad. In the longer term, the Russian tanks currently trying to encircle Myrnohrad could redirect their efforts—and begin pushing north toward Kramatorsk, the largest Ukrainian-held city in Donetsk Oblast and a critical anchor of the Donbas fortress belt.
Key takeaways from Myrnohrad
- Russia's 5:1 manpower advantage around Pokrovsk-Myrnohrad is forcing Ukrainian defenders into an increasingly untenable position
- Winter fog benefits Russian mechanized assaults by degrading Ukrainian drone surveillance
- Ukrainian counter-innovations—ground robots, signals intelligence, AI drones—are partially offsetting weather disadvantages
- A Ukrainian withdrawal from Myrnohrad would shorten defensive lines but open the road toward Kramatorsk
