2023 Ukrainian counteroffensive order of battle
The 2023 Ukrainian counteroffensive was a major offensive against Russian forces occupying its territory with a goal of breaching the front lines.[1][2][3][4][5] Efforts were made in many directions, primarily in Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia oblasts, among others. In total, Ukraine recaptured 14 villages in Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia oblasts, with a total pre-war population of around 5,000 but took heavy casualties.[6] Western officials have said that such losses were not unexpected for attacking forces.[7] The counteroffensive was widely regarded as a failure but also a crucial moment in the war.
Ukrainian forces[edit]
Ukrainian Ground Forces
3rd Assault Brigade - Andriy Biletsky
5th Assault Brigade - Oleksandr Yakovenko
21st Mechanized Brigade[8]
23rd Mechanized Brigade[9]
30th Mechanized Brigade - Colonel Ihor Dovhan[10][11]
31st Mechanized Brigade[12]
32nd Mechanized Brigade - Denis Merzlikin
33rd Mechanized Brigade - Col. Ivan Voitenko[13]
42nd Mechanized Brigade[14]
43rd Mechanized Brigade
47th Mechanized Brigade - Lt. Col. Oleksandr Sak (until 16 September) Col. Oleksandr Pavlii (after 16 September 2023)
60th Mechanized Brigade - Viktor Skaternoi[15]
65th Mechanized Brigade - A. Kravets[16]
68th Jaeger Brigade - Oleksiy Shum
93rd Mechanized Brigade - Pavlo Palisa[17]
110th Mechanized Brigade - Mykola Chumak[18]
116th Mechanized Brigade[19]
117th Mechanized Brigade
118th Mechanized Brigade
128th Mountain Assault Brigade - Colonel Dmytro Lysyuk[20]
142nd Rifle Brigade
Liut Brigade - Colonel Oleksandr Netrebko
Norman Brigade - Jean-Francois Ratelle ("Hrulf")[21][22]
Skala Battalion - Maj. Yuriy Harkaviy ″Skala″[23]
Kastuś Kalinoŭski Regiment - Dzianis Prokharaŭ- Black Maple Company[24][25]
Ukrainian Marine Corps
35th Marine Brigade - Yuriy Andriyenko
36th Marine Brigade - Lt. Col. Viktor Sikoza
37th Marine Brigade
38th Marine Brigade
Ukrainian Air Assault Forces
46th Airmobile Brigade - Col. Valeriy Skred
80th Air Assault Brigade - Col. Ihor Skybyuk
82nd Air Assault Brigade - Lt. Col. Pavlo Rozlach[26]
95th Air Assault Brigade - Dmytro Bratishko
Territorial Defense Forces
100th Territorial Defense Brigade - Col. Ruslan Tkachuk
129th Territorial Defense Brigade
Ukrainian Volunteer Army - Dmytro Yarosh
- 7th Battalion Arei - Oleksandr Hryshchuk
International Legion - Colonel Ruslan Miroshnichenko[27]
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Russian and Separatist forces[edit]
Russian Ground Forces
Southern Military District - Colonel General Sergey Kuzovlev
8th Guards Combined Arms Army - Colonel General Gennady V. Anashkin[28][29]
18th Combined Arms Army - Lieutenant General Andrey Seritsky[30][31]- 40th Army Corps[32]
58th Combined Arms Army - Major general Ivan Ivanovich Popov (until 11 July 2023) Lieutenant General Denis Lyamin (after 11 July 2023)
Western Military District - Colonel General Yevgeny Nikiforov
- 3rd Army Corps - Major General V. A. Belyaevsky[34]
- 72nd Separate Motor Rifle Brigade
20th Guards Combined Arms Army - Major General Sukhrab Akhmedov
144th Guards Motor Rifle Division - Colonel Aleksey Alekseyevich Polyakov
Eastern Military District - Colonel General Andrey Kuzmenko
5th Combined Arms Army - Major General Aleksey Podivilov[35]
35th Combined Arms Army - Lieutenant General Aleksandr Semyonovich Sanchik
Central Military District - Colonel General Andrey Mordvichev
- 25th Combined Arms Army - Major General Andrey Seritsky
41st Combined Arms Army - Lieutenant General Sergey Ryzhkov
Russian Airborne Forces
7th Guards Mountain Air Assault Division - Col. Aleksandr Kornev
31st Guards Air Assault Brigade - Colonel Andrey "Dunai" Kondrashkin †[36][37]
45th Guards Spetsnaz Brigade - Col. Vadim Pankov
76th Guards Air Assault Division - Guards Colonel Denis Shishov
98th Guards Airborne Division - Guards Colonel Viktor Igoryevich Gunaza
104th Guards Airborne Division[38]
106th Guards Airborne Division - Major General Vladimir Vyacheslavovich Selivyorstov
GRU
Russian Navy
Pavel Sudoplatov Battalion - Yevgeny Balitsky
Bogdan Khmelnitsky Battalion - Andrii Tyshchenko[39]- Storm Ossetia - Ayvengo Tekhov †
- Wagner Group - Andrei Troshev[40]
Storm-Z - Yevgeny Burdinsky
- Storm Gladiator
Storm-V
Donetsk People's Militia
Luhansk People's Militia
2nd Guards Lugansk-Severodonetsk Army Corps
6th Separate Cossack Motorized Rifle Brigade - Vladimir Sergeevich Polupoltinnykh[43]
Prizrak Brigade - Artur Bogachenko †[44][45]
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References[edit]
- ^ "Live updates: Ukraine launches counteroffensive against Russia". The Washington Post. 8 June 2023. Archived from the original on 8 June 2023. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
- ^ Schmidt, Samantha (8 June 2023). "Ukrainian military begins counteroffensive to oust Russian occupiers". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on 8 June 2023. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
- ^ Schmitt, Eric; Kurmanaev, Anatoly; Kramer, Andrew E. (8 June 2023). "U.S. Official Says Ukrainian Attack in South Appears to Be a Main Thrust of Counteroffensive". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 9 June 2023. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
- ^ "Ukraine begins counteroffensive against Russia, officials say". ABC News. Archived from the original on 8 June 2023. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
- ^ Sanchez, Raf; Parafeniuk, Anastasiia; O'Reilly, Bill (8 June 2023). "Ukraine launches counteroffensive against Russia". NBC News. Archived from the original on 8 June 2023. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
- ^ Burridge, Tom Soufi (17 August 2023). "Ukraine taking heavy casualties 10 weeks into its counteroffensive". ABC News. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
- ^ Wintour, Patrick (14 June 2023). "Russia-Ukraine war: Ukraine taking significant casualties and making slow progress towards Russian defence, say western officials – as it happened". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
- ^ Lovett, Ian; Walker, Marcus; Luxmoore, Matthew (11 June 2023). "Ukraine's Offensive Begins with Ground Gained, Tanks Lost". Wall Street Journal.
- ^ https://twitter.com/RALee85/status/1666854121129881605
- ^ "Ukraine aims to wear down and outsmart Russian army distracted by infighting". 30 June 2023.
- ^ "Soldiers of 30th Brigade destroy two enemy equipment units in two hours". 12 July 2023.
- ^ Axe, David (26 June 2023). "There Are Fancy Ukrainian Brigades—Then There's the 31st Mechanized. The Unassuming Unit Just Pulled a Daring Maneuver". Forbes. Retrieved 27 January 2024.
- ^ https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidaxe/2023/06/15/one-of-ukraines-meanest-mechanized-brigades-just-joined-the-southern-counteroffensive/?sh=5eb9fd714b36
- ^ Axe, David (13 September 2023). "Ukraine's 42nd Brigade Has The Best Stryker Fighting Vehicles—And The Worst MT-LB Fighting Vehicles, Too". Forbes. Retrieved 25 September 2023.
- ^ https://twitter.com/DefenceU/status/1676558794531168258?lang=en
- ^ Axe, David (2 August 2023). "The Ukrainians Are Losing a Lot of Old Soviet Vehicles Trying to Break Through Russian Lines Around Tokmak". Forbes. Retrieved 27 January 2024.
- ^ Axe, David (15 June 2023). "One Of Ukraine's Meanest Mechanized Brigades Just Joined The Southern Counteroffensive". Forbes. Retrieved 25 December 2023.
- ^ Axe, David (27 October 2023). "One Exhausted Ukrainian Brigade In Avdiivka Reportedly Blew Up 200 Russian Vehicles And Killed 800 Russian Troops". Forbes. Retrieved 25 December 2023.
- ^ https://www.president.gov.ua/en/news/prezident-ukrayini-vidvidav-brigadi-yaki-vedut-nastupalni-di-84889
- ^ Harding, Luke (15 October 2023). "Russia's Avdiivka offensive is failing, says top Ukrainian officer". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
- ^ "Russian offensive campaign assessment". Understanding War. June 8, 2023.
- ^ "Missions of the Brigade". Twitter. June 7, 2023.
- ^ https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukraine-will-speed-up-advance-southern-front-commander-2023-08-26/
- ^ "At least 12 killed in Russian missile attack on popular meeting place for Canadian volunteers in Ukraine". The Globe and Mail. 28 June 2023.
- ^ https://twitter.com/BlackMapleCo/status/1728097737751564793?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet
- ^ York, Chris (16 August 2023). "82nd Air Assault Brigade: Ukraine's 'Ridiculously Powerful' Unit Is Finally in Action". KyivPost.
- ^ "Foreign fighters leave Ukraine due to witnessing atrocities". YouTube.
- ^ "Discussions in Russia about who is responsible for successes in vicinity of Marinka – ISW". www.pravda.com.ua.
- ^ "New Canadian sanctions against Russia target accused 'Butchers of Bucha'". www.cbc.ca. 2022-08-02. Retrieved 2023-10-27.
- ^ https://english.alarabiya.net/News/world/2023/08/21/Russia-creating-new-military-formation-in-Ukraine-in-face-of-wartime-realities-UK
- ^ https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russia%E2%80%99s-military-restructuring-and-expansion-hindered-ukraine-war
- ^ "Restructuring and Expansion of the Russian Ground Forces Hindered by Ukraine War Requirements".
- ^ Hird, Karolina; Barros, George; Mappes, Grace; Wolkov, Nicole; Clark, Mason; Kagan, Fredrick W. "Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, June 8, 2023". Institute for the Study of War. Archived from the original on June 9, 2023. Retrieved June 9, 2023.
- ^ "Institute for the Study of War".
- ^ "Institute for the Study of War". Institute for the Study of War.
- ^ "ISW: Ukrainian advances in Zaporizhzhia Oblast prompt Russian defensive focus". 17 September 2023.
- ^ "Commander of Russian air assault brigade reportedly killed in Ukraine".
- ^ "Attacked from Both Sides: Russian Paratroopers Forced Out from Krynky Surroundings, Dnipro River Left Bank".
- ^ "Fears Ukrainian POWs have been coerced to fight against their fellow citizens by Russia, says ISW". 28 October 2023.
- ^ https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2023/09/29/ex-prigozhin-aide-to-oversee-volunteer-fighters-in-ukraine-kremlin-a82601
- ^ Santora, Marc (12 August 2023). "Ukraine Makes 'Tactically Significant' Progress in Its Counteroffensive". The New York Times. Archived from the original on August 20, 2023. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
- ^ "Institute for the Study of War".
- ^ "Russian Offensive Assessment September" (PDF). www.understandingwar.org.
- ^ https://www.newsweek.com/russia-ghost-battalion-commander-killed-ukraine-bakhmut-counteroffensive-artur-bogachenko-1816147
- ^ https://www.news18.com/videos/world/russia-s-ghost-brigade-commander-killed-in-ukraine-will-bogachenko-s-death-tilt-donbas-scales-8463175.html