Russia fires thermobaric shells at Pokrovsk, Kiev refuses to admit losing Chasov Yar
Russia fires thermobaric shells south of Pokrovsk, takes control of the village of Zatyshok, completes clearing of the city's outskirts; Kiev refuses to acknowledge the fall of Chasov Yar.
Báo Khoa học và Đời sống•02/08/2025
Over the past week, the Pokrovsk front has been the “hottest” area of the Ukrainian battlefield, as the Russian Armed Forces (RFAF) continue to fiercely attack the city of Pokrovsk and surrounding areas. Military Review reported that the village of Zatyshok (Russian name Suvorovo) has been completely controlled by the RFAF. The village of Zatyshok is located northeast of Pokrovsk, where fierce fighting is taking place. Currently, the Russian army is completing the mop-up of the remaining Ukrainian troops and setting up temporary defensive positions to prevent the Ukrainian army from counterattacking.
At the same time, the shock units of the RFAF Central Group continued to advance in this direction, having begun a breakthrough attack on the village of Nikanorivka, located north of Zatyshok. In general, the pace of the RFAF's offensive in this direction continued to increase. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Armed Forces (AFU) southern defense line of Pokrovsk collapsed due to the heavy Russian "thermobaric" artillery fire. The RFAF destroyed the AFU's fortified defenses on the southern flank of Pokrovsk with TOS-1A Solntsepek and TOS-2 Tosochka thermobaric artillery. Due to the dense firepower from the heavy thermobaric artillery systems, the AFU defense line in this area almost collapsed. The heavy thermobaric artillery systems were definitely the "chess pieces" for the RFAF to "make the decisive blow" in key battles. Due to their high destructive power, TOS-1A and TOS-2 thermobaric shells disabled most of the defensive positions and destroyed weapons and fortifications in the area. The shock wave of the thermobaric shells, when exploded, was capable of penetrating the shelter, creating a ripple effect everywhere, and the high temperature of the explosion literally burned everything.
On the southern flank of Pokrovsk, the RFAF continued to fire artillery and bombs into the area, making the southern flank extremely dangerous for the AFU defenders. The Russians also only used suppressive fire, not directly breaking through from this direction. Since the AFU troops in this direction are all mobile troops, the vehicles they use are mostly light and unarmored transport vehicles, such as pickup trucks, minibuses, and civilian SUVs. That is why under the fierce fire of Russian FPV UAVs, artillery, demolition bombs, and heavy thermobaric guns, the AFU's loss rate is up to 70-80%. The AFU General Staff had every reason to limit the deployment of additional armored vehicles to the Pokrovsk region. Therefore, on this front line, there were almost no signs of the appearance of M113, Stryker or Bradley armored vehicles, which were familiar to the AFU.
An important event took place on the Ukrainian battlefield, when the day before, on March 31, the Russian Ministry of Defense took full control of the city of Chasov Yar, where the fighting had been going on for more than a year. The capture of one of the most fortified AFU defense areas in Donetsk opened up the operational space for the RFAF, in the Konstantinovsky direction. Although the Russian Defense Ministry announced full control of Chasov Yar, Ukrainian state media still claimed that "the Russians have not completely captured the city". Kiev denied losing Chasov Yar and called this a "blatant lie" by Moscow. The Deep State channel, affiliated with the AFU (GUR) intelligence agency, wrote that Ukrainian troops "continue to defend the southwestern part of the city - in the Shakhty district, and the Russians have not yet completely captured the city". Deep State called the appearance of Russian flags outside these positions "unilateral flag-raising". They said that some Russian soldiers "ran forward and planted the Russian flag there".
But in the past, from Mariupol, Bakhmut, Avdiivka, Kurakhovo and Ugledar, any city under Russian control, Kiev denied. However, shortly after, these cities “naturally” came under Russian control, causing discontent among the Ukrainian public. (photo source Military Review, Kyiv Post, TASS). https://topwar.ru/268982-na-fone-razgroma-garnizona-vsu-v-chasovom-jare-ukrainskie-media-vzjalis-vseh-ubezhdat-v-tom-chto-russkie-gorod-do-konca-ne-vzjali.html https://topwar.ru/269022-juzhnyj-rubezh-oborony-vsu-v-pokrovske-ruhnul-v-rezultate-uvelichenija-plotnosti-termobaricheskogo-ognja.html https://topwar.ru/269014-zavershaetsja-zachistka-okrain-vs-rf-osvobodili-selo-suvorovo-na-pokrovskom-napravlenii.html
Since the AFU troops in this direction are all mobile troops, the vehicles they use are mostly light and unarmored transport vehicles, such as pickup trucks, minibuses, and civilian SUVs. That is why under the fierce fire of Russian FPV UAVs, artillery, demolition bombs, and heavy thermobaric guns, the AFU's loss rate is up to 70-80%. 
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