Ukrainian forces repel allegedly largest Russian tank assault near Avdiivka - media

This is reported by Forbes, citing sources in the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

A few weeks before the assault, the Russian forces apparently lacked vehicles after losing hundreds of them during the capture of Avdiivka in mid-February. Therefore, Russian troops mostly deployed infantry to advance west of the city.

In recent days, the situation has changed. Thirty-six tanks and 12 infantry fighting vehicles of the Russian army's 6th Tank Regiment, part of the 90th Tank Division, attacked along the road stretching from Russian-occupied Tonenke to the western Ukrainian-controlled village of Umanske.

Ukraine's 25th Brigade spotted the 48-vehicle convoy and struck at it, destroying 12 tanks and 8 infantry fighting vehicles.

The day after the assault, the Centre for Defence Strategies described the fighting around Tonenke as "positional", meaning that neither side had made significant progress.

"That the Ukrainians could defeat such a large and heavily-armed Russian force points to the other trend. Despite struggling with inadequate supplies of key munitions, Ukrainian brigades still are capable of mounting a fierce defense—often with a combination of mines, artillery, anti-tank missiles and explosive first-person-view drones," the publication writes.

• Serhii Tsehotskyi, an officer with the 59th Detached Motorised Infantry Brigade named after Yakov Handziuk, said that in the Avdiivka sector, Russia is using small group tactics to try to advance.