- Ukraine appears to have punched through Russia's anti-tank defenses, reports said.
- Troops appear to have used armored vehicles to get past trenches and "dragon's teeth" defenses.
- Ukraine is starting to exploit gaps in Russia's so-called "Surovikin Line."
Ukraine punched through Russia's formidable anti-tank and "dragon's teeth" defenses in a significant advance, according to multiple analysts.
They were reacting to a video showing Marder and Stryker infantry fighting vehicles pushing towards Russian lines.
George Barros, a lead analyst with the respected Institute for the Study of War, posted the clip late Thursday.
He located the assault near the southern village of Verbove. Crucially, he said it showed the vehicles behind Russia's fearsome layers of defenses meant to keep heavy vehicles out.
Ukraine's infantry had got past the so-called Surovikin line in recent days, but not its vehicles.
Barros, the ISW's Russia analyst, said that Ukraine had been working on breaching the line for "the past several weeks" and "may be preparing for a new push."
The analyst Rob Lee also posted about the video, saying it seemed to show Ukraine's elite 82nd Air Assault Brigade.
The brigade is fighting in the same area and has both German Marder and US Stryker IFVs in its arsenal of Western equipment.
Insider was unable to independently verify the video or which unit breached the defenses.
The "Surovikin Line", which is spread across occupied territory in southern and eastern Ukraine, is a complex system of Russian defensive fortifications and obstacles, which include mines, anti-vehicle ditches, and concrete pyramids known as "dragon's teeth", Insider's Jake Epstein previously reported.
Stryker armored fighting vehicles are versatile eight-wheeled weapons that were sent to Ukraine by the US in January. Marder infantry fighting vehicles, which resemble light tanks and can carry up to six people, were sent to Ukraine by Germany several months later.
Ukraine's 82nd Air Assault Brigade, which is made up of 2,000 troops, had previously been held in reserve but joined the counteroffensive efforts in August, Insider's Sinead Baker previously reported.
It has access to a big collection of Western vehicles and UK tanks, according to leaked US documents, Politico reported.
Earlier this month, Ukraine said its forces had liberated the village of Robotyne, which is on a network of roads leading to Melitopol, in another significant breakthrough against Russian forces.
