Clément Molin Profile picture
Oct 14, 2025 16 tweets 6 min read Read on X
For the first time in months, Russia 🇷🇺 launched tanks and armoured vehicles in Ukraine 🇺🇦

2 years after the large scale Avdiivka offensive, russian forces tried to storm the Pokrovsk-Kostiantynivka area of the frontline, losing around 30 armoured vehicles.

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The main use of tanks, IFV and AFV was during the Avdiivka-Donestk offensive, mainly between october 2023 and may 2024.

Then, it was slowly abandonned. Since the first months of 2025, the use of armoured vehicles nearly disappeared. Image
Why ?

Because Russia was slowly lacking reserves in armoured vehicles and drone warfare was making their use more and more dangerous.

Most of them have been put away from the front during months and endured some changes. Image
Now that the summer is finishing, the roads are getting more and more muddy.

It is thus impossible to do assaults with motorcycles and ladas while assaulting on foots without cover is increasingly dangerous. This is the main reason for this come back.
On these long videos published by ukrainian forces we can see columns of armoured vehicles and tanks assaulting ukrainian positions near Pokrovsk.

For 2 months, russians have had difficulties to reach Pokrovsk and Kostiantynivka, mainly failing to take strongholds.
One of the assaults was trying to reach Myrnohrad, especially taking control over the mine west of the city, a ukrainian stronghold. They lost 4 vehicles here. Image
Another axis was the Kostiantynivka-Pokrovsk highway. In this area, multiple russian columns have been destroyed in the previous months, one of the only one where they continued to send tanks and armoured vehicles. Image
However, the main assaulted direction is the village of Shakove, a ukrainian stronghold.

Russia launched multiple armoured vehicles, hundreds of soldiers and motorcycles here to break the ukrainian defenses. Shakove is protecting the whole direction. Image
Despite multiple assaults on Volodymyrivka, just south of Shakove, the russians still didn't managed to take it.

Now, it is mainly a grey zone and tens of soldiers have been brought here, they will probably try to gain a strong foothold here and in Shakove. Image
Using armoured vehicles is somewhat new this year, it is also the result of months of reinforcements.

At 0:25 there is an interesting footage. You can see that the ditch forces the BTR to use the road, which has been mined. That's how dtches should be used.
The importance of fortifications : to reach Shakove from the main assault route, they need to stay on this road (because of the 6 anti-tank obstacles).

-> it concentrates the ukrainian fire on a single road. Image
And it's exactly the same with infantry and barbed wire :

They need to walk in the only zones where there are no barbed wire. Here, we can see a recent picture and a 1 month old one (Novotoretsk'e). Image
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What is happening near Pokrovsk ?

The grey zone is increasingly big, it is getting more and more difficult to consolidate any progress. Pokrovsk is still safe, fightings are ongoing in Rodynske and Udachne, while some infiltrations are ongoing in the south of the city. Image
The main objectif for russian forces now is to expand the Dobropilla bridgehead, by taking Shakove. Then, they will be able to connect again with their isolated troops north-west.

They will also try to consolidate gains near Myrnohrad. Image
In one month, the tree cover will have disapeared, preventing infantry infiltration. The weather may affect drones, which is also important to remember.

Thus, Russia has to reach (and consolidate around) Pokrovsk and Kostiantynivka before the winter to assault it.
I finish this thread with the wide preparation of new defensive lines, especially away from Donbass region.

Main new lines :

-Pavlohrad-Novomykholaivka
-Vilniansk-Zaporijia
-3rd Donbass line (behind Kramatorsk) Image

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More from @clement_molin

May 23
New Map Update 🇺🇦/🇷🇺 💥

I updated the map of ukrainian middle strikes against trucks with some new geolocations and informations published today.

I have now ~15 confirmed hits on the Rostov-Crimea road and 30 confirmed hits on the Mariupol-Donetsk road + Donetsk ring. ⬇️ Image
For now, we have mainly videos from these two roads. I've tryed to geolocate some videos from supply roads leading to Donetsk, but it's much more difficult, especially due to the quality of the images.

This video is useful, because they put the area hit:

Yesterday's geolocations come from here : multiple geolocators + my own geolocations :

Read 5 tweets
May 23
In the Sloviansk direction, Russia 🇷🇺 launched 800 airstrikes this month in two directions, preparing the terrain for a larger offensive.

At the same time, Ukraine's third Azov Corps launched the first counter-attacks to cut the Lyman salient.

🧵THREAD🧵1/16 ⬇️Image
Few days ago, I posted an update on the Oskil front situation, depicting the most important assault roads used by russian troops.

On this update, you could see two ukrainian drone strikes located by @giK1893 in Pryshyb and Tetianivka, behind the Donets river. Image
This river is very important, it was the main ukrainian defensive line in the region in 2022, it's covered by massive forests and directly protecting cities like Izium or Sloviansk.

For 3 years, the russians are trying to reach it, behind the town of Lyman. Image
Read 16 tweets
May 22
Situation préoccupante à l'ouest d'Houlialpole dans le sud de l'Ukraine, où la Russie a lancé plus de 1 000 frappes aériennes ces 20 derniers jours.

La précision des frappes, environ 80%, et leur localisation montrent que l'armée russe met d'importants moyens dans la région. ⬇️ Image
A titre de comparaison, voici les frappes aériennes durant le mois d'avril dans la zone : Image
Et celles en février/mars :

On remarque bien le déplacement vers l'ouest. Image
Read 5 tweets
May 22
Russia 🇷🇺 is shutting the Rostov-Crimea road for civilian traffic after multiple ukrainian 🇺🇦 strikes hit this critical road

More strikes are also hitting the Mariupol-Donetsk highway. Right now, all the land corridor to Crimea is threatened.

🧵THREAD🧵1/10 ⬇️ Image
This map is made thanks to multiple geolocations from : @99Dominik_ @blinzka @carse_n @dmitrij46839 @federicoborsar1 @franfran2424 @GarbuzYe @hochu_dodomu @klinger66 @Kukulkan415 @MaxximOSINT @moklasen @neonhandrail @AndrewPerpetua @NotWoofers @tom_bike @VyshnyaOstap (among others) and my own geolocations.

I have a total of 73 trucks hit since march, but I believe this is barely 20% of the real numbers, since most of the results are not filmed and multiple videos cannot be geolocalized.
More and more videos from southern Ukraine are showing the results of Ukraine's middle strikes, mainly done with Hornet drones as well as long range FPV drones, which can now reach 50 km.
Read 10 tweets
May 20
These last 2 months, Ukraine 🇺🇦 dug 1 300 km of fortifications from Kyiv to Odesa

In the eastern part of the country, the AFU can now rely on 2 to 6 defensive lines, with kilometers of obstacle lines extending behind the front.

🧵THREAD🧵1/24⬇️ Image
When we talked about fortifications in Ukraine from 2014 to 2024, we were talking about those large trenches in the middle of the fields.

Drone war has made those completely obsolete. I put here famous ones, try to find where they are : Image
Image
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Today's fortifications are much different. The priority is not to hide soldiers, but to prevent the ennemy from advancing.

That's why those new defensive lines are composed of 3 anti-vehicle ditches filled with anti-infantry barbed wire and multiple barbed wire lines. Image
Read 24 tweets
May 17
Si l'armée ukrainienne frappe de plus en plus le territoire russe 🇷🇺, l'armée russe poursuit et intensifie sa campagne de frappes sur l'Ukraine.

Cette carte présente une bonne partie des frappes de drones longue portée et quelques missiles depuis janvier 2026.

🧵THREAD🧵1/11 ⬇️ Image
Chaque jour, l'armée russe frappe le territoire ukrainien avec des centaines de drones kamikazes Shahed iranien (fabriqués en Russie sous le nom de Geran), mais aussi des leurres, comme les Gerbera ou les Parody.

On constate une augmentation progressive des frappes. Image
Après deux mois records, nous nous dirigeons progressivement vers un nouveau record avec probablement plus de 7 000 frappes de drones stratégiques en mai 2026.

Attention, il faut bien garder à l'esprit qu'environ 30 à 40% de ces drones sont en réalités des leurres. Image
Read 11 tweets

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