Ukraine’s 4th Tank Brigade has joined the Velyka Novosilka offensive as of June 12th, 2023. This represents the first appearance of a heavy armored brigade in the Velyka Novosilka offensive, which has thus far relied primarily on attacks by three elite light infantry brigades.
In the past 24 hours, Ukraine’s gains in this area like the liberation of Makarivka were visually confirmed. There were some questions as to whether a Russian counterattack on the city had been successful, but Russian military bloggers like War Gonzo admitted that the counterattack was unsuccessful and the town remains in Ukrainian hands.
With fierce fighting occurring around Urozhaine, Ukraine has sent in the crack 4th Tank Brigade to try to overwhelm the Russian flank east of Urozhaine.
Footage of units of the 4th Tank Brigade and 37th Marine Brigade purportedly east of Urozhaine was released by the 4th Tank Brigade. The fighting appears to be taking place somewhere between Urozhaine and Novodonetsk, to the east of Urozhaine.
The 4th Tank Brigade is most famous for its role in the Kharkiv Counteroffensive in September 2022. The 4th Tank Brigade’s T-72 and T-64 tanks caught the Russian 4th Guards Tank Division north of Izium in a disorganized state. The Russian 4th GTD had been supporting operations attacking south towards Sloviansk, and the 4th Tank Brigade effectively caught them from behind.
The Russian 4th GTD had highly advanced T-80U tanks, but their uncoordinated and confused defense was no match for the 4th Tank Brigades’ highly coordinated attacks. The 4th GTD lost 90 T-80U tanks confirmed by Oryx, and are believed to have lost well over 100 tanks—over half of a full-strength Russian Tank Division’s tanks.
The action took place over four days, and the Ukrainian 4th Tank Brigade’s feat has been called “100 tanks in 100 hours.”
The 4th Tank Brigade was the first unit to be announced to be receiving Leopard 2s and is known to have received Leopard 2A4 training in Spain.
The number of Leopard 2s assigned to the 4th Tank Brigade is unknown, but based on publicly available information (announced assignments and from the Pentagon Leak documents), I estimated that the 4th Tank Brigade likely has 2 companies (28) of Leopard 2A4 tanks.
There are rumors that some of the most powerful Leopard 2A6 tanks were also assigned to the 4th Brigade, in which case one of the companies may be composed of 10-14 Leopard 2A6 tanks instead of 14 Leopard 2A4s, or each Leopard 2A4 platoon of four tanks may include 1 Leopard 2A6—it is unknown how Ukraine is tactically organizing its Leopard 2 types.
A Ukrainian tank brigade typically has around 90 tanks, so the 4th Tank Brigade’s other tank companies are likely around 60 to 65 T-72 and T-64 tanks.
So the 4th Tank Brigade can be characterized as a veteran unit with mostly Soviet arms, with a few powerful Western tank companies to supercharge its strength.
The 4th Tank Brigade, along with the 1st Tank Brigade and 25th Air Assault Brigade, are probably the most decorated and highly trained veteran brigades in the Ukrainian Army. Ukraine’s commitment of the 4th Tank Brigade in this area of the battlefield is a signal of Ukraine’s viewing of this attack as being of extremely high significance.
Russian military bloggers' reports place the Ukrainian 3rd Tank Brigade in reserve in the Velyka Novosilka area, although it does not appear to have been engaged yet. If true, Ukraine has committed three elite light infantry brigades (35th and 37th Marine, 68th Jaeger) and two heavy armor brigades (3rd and 4th Tank Brigades) to this sector of the battlefield.
Contrast this commitment of forces with the attacks north of Tokmak where only two brigades, 33rd Mechanized and the 47th Mechanized brigades, have been confirmed to be predominantly engaged.
It increasingly looks like Ukraine’s main attack at present is happening at Velyka Novosilka.
