19 May: Release the Kraken! Ukrainian Most Elite Special Ops Wreak Havoc on the Russian Forces - Reporting from Ukraine

Day 816: May 19

Today, there are a lot of updates from the Bakhmut direction.

The most interesting updates come from the northern flank of Chasiv Yar. Here, the Ukrainians repelled head-on Russian assaults into the town and forced them to change their approach in an attempt to take it. In the last two weeks, this front section was stale, with minimal action from the Russians, which decided to halt all assaults with a brief operational pause. This was done to redeploy and accumulate forces for attacks to the north of the town from the direction of Bohdanivka and to the south from Ivanivske.

This decision was made after Ukrainians deployed the elite Kraken special operations unit to the Kanal district of the town, where the bulk of Russian assaults took place. Kraken fighters published a video from Chasiv Yar shortly after their deployment to the area. In the video, we can see the conditions that Kraken and other Kanal district troops face.

The Russian bombardment was not constant, so the Kraken and other troops relocated around the town in armored vehicles to their assigned firing positions. The troops that were moving on foot must exercise caution from Russian artillery and drone strikes, so they must run fast in small groups to avoid being hit. At times of heavy aerial bombardment and artillery shelling, basements of residential buildings are used as shelters for troops to wait out until it is over. We can also see a Kraken fighter firing an AT-Four shoulder-fired anti-tank weapon from the position in a high-rise building. AT-Four has an effective firing range of three hundred meters, implying that Russians manage to get close to Ukrainian positions during their assaults.

At the same time, Ukrainian artillery and drone operators provide fire support to the forces in the Kanal district, suppressing detected Russian artillery and troop concentrations. In videos published by the Forty-Third artillery brigade, we can see the counter-battery work of German-made Panzerhaubitsze two thousand against three Russian artillery pieces, D-20, D-30, and a scarce heavy mortar, "Tylupan." We could also see the destruction of a TOS thermobaric system. This is the most dangerous Russian artillery system and is very scarce, so it is a high-priority target for the Ukrainians.

As I said in previous reports, Russians had no success storming the front of the town at Kanal residential district, so they made an effort to destroy bridges over the canal. As a result of these operations, Russians did manage to destroy two crossings, one in the town and one to the north. However, this only created a short-term supply shortage of heavy equipment as Ukrainians could fix the bridges quickly.

In addition, there are many small makeshift bridges for infantry over the canal, so Ukrainian ground troops have no problem reinforcing the units in the eastern Kanal district.

After destroying the bridges over the canal and months of heavy bombardment, the Russians launched a powerful assault on the Kanal district in hopes of a breakthrough and takeover of the high-rise area. However, the assault group of six BMD infantry fighting vehicles was quickly detected by drone operators of the Kraken Regiment. The drones corrected the fire of the Kraken artillery detachment's M-Triple-Seven artillery operators, which knocked out two out of six BMDs on the road to Chasiv Yar.

With a third of the assault group destroyed, only four BMDs loaded with infantry entered the town and dismounted infantry heading for the high-rise buildings. One of the BMDs was destroyed entirely by an accurate shot of the Kraken artillery detachment, killing everyone who was inside and leaving a burning wreck. Subsequently, another BMD was damaged and disabled by precise artillery fire from artillery operators of Kraken, which led to its crew abandoning it. Only two BMDs managed to get back to their leading positions, but one of them was yet again destroyed by an accurate artillery shot, leaving only one in six BMDs to return. A few dismounted infantrymen tried to take positions in the high-rise buildings but got quickly targeted and destroyed. As a result, the Kraken special forces detachment successfully denied any Russian attempts to establish...