The 3rd Separate Assault Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has announced that the Andriivka village, south of Bakhmut has been taken under full control of the Ukrainian Army. The information has been shared officially by the press service of the 3rd Brigade, followed by a statement that during the battles for this settlement, the entire 72nd Motor Rifle Brigade of the russian armed forces has been "destroyed altogether."
"As a result of a lightning-fast operation, the russian garrison of Andriivka has been surrounded, cut off the main forces, and eliminated," reads the notice posted on the military unit's social media.
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Shortly, it was complemented by a video (above) showing the commander of 3rd Brigade's 2nd Assault Battalion offering the remaining russian soldiers to surrender, using a loudspeaker attached to a UAV.
The press service promises more details soon, for now they reveal that in two days of intense combat, Ukrainian forces took down the top reconnaissance commander, three battalion commanders and "almost all of the infantry of the 72nd brigade, including officers and numerous equipment."
The soldiers note that the victory in Andriivka is an important step toward a breakthrough on the right flank of the russian invasion forces, and that the history of battles against the Ukrainian 3rd Brigade and the russian 72nd is rich.
On a note from Defense Express, more specifically, we can find open data that the 3rd Assault Brigade has been facing the russian 72nd Motor Rifle Brigade since at least early May.
In the first days of the counteroffensive led by this Ukrainian unit, russian troops from the 72nd "fled" and left the neighboring positions open to Ukrainian attack. That is what Wagner Group's former leader Yevgeny Prigozhin was accusing this particular russian military unit of. According to Prigozhin, 500 "Wagnerites" died because of the withdrawal of 72nd's.
Having suffered heavy casualties in May, the 72nd Brigade regrouped, replenished, and once again deployed in the Donetsk operational axis. Now this unit is destroyed completely, the Ukrainian soldiers say.
Below: one of the earlier videos from the first days of the Ukrainian counteroffensive, featuring the 3rd Assault Brigade pushing the russian elite VDV and Wagner forces out of their positions near Bakhmut, May 2023.
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