It has become a key hub: Ukraine deploys "Kara-Dag" offensive brigade near Pokrovsk – Forbes

Ukraine is trying to strengthen the defense of Pokrovsk in Donetsk region, which continues to be attacked by the Russian occupiers. This city is an important logistical and logistical hub for the Defense Forces.

One of the offensive brigades, the 15th Operational Brigade of the National Guard "Kara-Dag", has been deployed to strengthen the defense. Forbes writes about this.

"In a desperate effort to bolster Ukraine's defenses around Pokrovsk, a city with a pre-war population of 60,000 and an important logistical center 25 miles west of the ruins of Avdiivka in eastern Ukraine, the National Guard of Ukraine has deployed one of its offensive brigades: "Kara-Dag."

The author of the article, journalist David Axe, notes that this brigade, with a total strength of about 2,000 soldiers, had previously been conducting combat missions in southern Ukraine. The fact that the Ukrainian command was forced to deploy it to an "unfamiliar battlefield in the east", according to Axe, "emphasizes the severity of the problems Ukraine is facing on the frontline between Avdiivka and Pokrovsk.

The publication reminds that Russia has been slowly advancing toward Pokrovsk since capturing Avdiivka in February this year. The chronic lack of ammunition in the Ukrainian Defense Forces in this area also played into the enemy's hands. At the same time, Pokrovsk, which is being targeted by the Russians, is extremely important for Ukraine.

"Ukraine's logistics backbone in the Donetsk region is under threat," the newspaper quotes the Ukrainian analytical group Frontelligence Insight, whose representatives note that Pokrovsk "has become a key transportation and distribution railroad hub that has helped supply Ukrainian forces along a wide front line."

In August, the Russian advance gained a more rapid pace – and after that, the newspaper writes, the General Staff of the Armed Forces began to respond to the risky situation, in particular, reinforcements were sent to strengthen the defense in the Pokrovsk direction to support soldiers from several mechanized, airborne assault brigades and National Guard brigades that were already fighting fierce battles with the enemy there.

"Among these fresh forces was the "Kara-Dag" brigade. Formed in 2014, reorganized several times, bloody in battle in 2022, and then reinforced with additional heavy weapons, including T-64 tanks, the "Kara-Dag" Brigade is one of the National Guard's offensive brigades. Usually, it is a paramilitary police group, but military circumstances forced the brigade to fight as an army brigade," the article says.

Until recently, the brigade fought on the southern front, in particular, it fought in the Melitopol area in the first days of the full-scale war, and after that, it remained in Zaporizhzhia until it was time to move east.

"But the deployment of the Karadazh brigade did not stop the Russian advance. And some Russian observers wonder where the rest of Ukraine's reserves are. Of course, many Ukrainian troops who have not yet been involved in combat joined Ukraine's sudden invasion of Russia's Kursk region. Despite this, there must be several unused brigades somewhere in Ukraine out of a total ground combat force of about 100 brigades," the author writes.

He also quotes Russian propagandist Yevgeny Norin, who said that Russia allegedly knows that "the Ukrainian armed forces still have several fairly intact and well-equipped units in reserve, about five brigades," and wonders why the command does not send them to defend the city's vital supply lines.

"This can mean two things. They plan to deploy them elsewhere, and they want to achieve some decisive influence before the front in Donbass completely collapses," the propagandist concluded.

Forbes, in turn, suggests that this "other place" may be Kursk, where the Ukrainian operation continues - and continues successfully.

"By moving troops to Kursk rather than to the Pokrovsk direction, Ukraine's leaders are betting that the gains from their surprise invasion in the north are more important to the outcome of the war than the potential losses in the east. This is an extremely risky game," the author summarizes.

Earlier, it was reported that on August 28, the Ukrainian Armed Forces destroyed another column of Putin's troops and a pontoon ferry in the Kursk region. The enemy has also apparently suffered losses in manpower, but the Russian command is carefully concealing them.

In addition, Ukrainian defenders in the Kursk region are receiving "land-lifting" from the Russian occupiers. For example, since the start of the operation on August 6, the soldiers of the 80th Separate Mechanized Brigade alone have captured seven enemy tanks as trophies, including the "world's best tank" T-90M, as well as four brand new T-80 BVMs with mileage ranging from 80 to 300 kilometers. All the tanks will be used by their former owners after the repair work.

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