Russian Troops’ ‘Meat Grinder’ Assaults Allegedly Lead to Mass Losses in Toretsk Sector

Russian troops have likely suffered significant losses of equipment and personnel in the Toretsk sector in the Donetsk region.

“Personnel are thrown into ‘meat’ assaults. The wounded and killed are replaced with seconded military personnel,” Atesh reported via Telegram.

An Atesh agent, a soldier serving in the 27th Motorized Rifle Division of the Russian Armed Forces, reported increased transfers of personnel and equipment to the Toretsk sector.

The partisan movement claimed that the Russian command is determined to take Toretsk “at any cost.”

“Our agents are embedded in Russian units both in Toretsk and in other key sectors along the front line. We collect all important information and promptly transfer it to the Ukrainian Defense Forces,” the partisans added.

Nazar Voloshyn, spokesperson for the Khortytsia operational and strategic group of troops confirmed the partisans’ statements in comments to Kyiv Post – saying Ukraine has counted significant Russian troop losses in the sector.

During the week, Ukraine tallied Russian casualties to 1,502 personnel – 635 killed, 855 wounded, and 12 prisoners of war (POWs), Voloshyn said.

And on Tuesday morning, July 16, Russia lost 224 more personnel – with 72 killed, 147 wounded, and five POWs.

On July 7, a spokesperson for the Khortytsia group of troops told Kyiv Post that Russian forces were advancing on Toretsk. The Ukrainian Defense Forces have been repulsing these advances near the outskirts of the city and maintaining control of the sector.

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Like the partisans, Voloshyn said that Russian forces are trying to capture the city, regardless of how heavy the losses in personnel and equipment. Speaking to Kyiv Post, he said that Russian forces are probing for weak points in Ukraine’s defense, deploying mobilized soldiers and former convicts in their assaults.

Russian forces are conducting numerous “meat assaults” with mobile fire groups, resulting in high casualties, he said. Along with these assaults, Russian forces are shelling Toretsk with various weapons.

Toretsk is approximately 10 kilometers (6 miles) from Russian-occupied Horlivka and 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of Avdiivka.

Ukrainian military experts stress that control over Toretsk allows the Ukrainians to maintain fire control over Horlivka and adjacent towns, which serve as the operational rear of the Russian Armed Forces.

In mid-June, several reports indicated that Russian forces in the Donetsk region were approaching Chasiv Yar, a town on defensible elevated ground. In early July, the Suspilne Donbas media outlet cited Voloshyn, reporting that Russian forces began storming Chasiv Yar from the Toretsk sector with frontal attacks by small infantry groups.

Voloshyn later told Kyiv Post that Ukrainian forces had withdrawn from the Kanal micro-district in Chasiv Yar because the positions of the Ukrainian defenders had been destroyed. He said that keeping personnel there posed a threat to the lives of their soldiers.

Voloshyn disclosed that Russians had not left a single building intact, saying that after bombing and artillery shelling, the town looks like a “moonscape.”