During 15 months of fighting for Toretsk, the Russians lost about 50,000 soldiers
According to the former commander of the 100th Mechanized Brigade, during the 15 months of fighting for Toretsk, the Russian army lost about 50,000 soldiers killed and wounded.
For the Russians, Toretsk was supposed to serve as a springboard for a further offensive on Kostiantynivka. That is why, according to Ruslan Tkachuk, the enemy threw significant forces at the city and expected to quickly break through the Ukrainian defenses.
That did not happen. The Russian command, he said, postponed the date for capturing Toretsk approximately five times.
“We wiped out roughly two Russian divisions. And if you count those we put out of action, then it’s somewhere around five.”
Tkachuk estimates the total losses of Russian troops in the battles for the city at approximately 50,000 soldiers, of whom about 20,000 were killed.
The Ukrainian forces there faced the strongest resistance from the Russian 132nd and 1st Brigades, units of the 150th Division, and numerous assault units.
It even reached the point where wounded soldiers were sent into battle. According to Tkachuk, Ukrainian soldiers took Russian soldiers prisoner whom their commanders had forced to advance on crutches. The prisoners also spoke of brutal punishments for refusing to participate in assaults.
The Russians themselves referred to Toretsk as “Dresden” during the fighting. Ukrainian troops heard this from intercepted enemy communications.
“When they were fighting in the center and suffering casualties, they would say to each other: ‘We need to make a movie about this Dresden.’ They themselves called it Dresden,” said Ruslan Tkachuk.
The fighting raged over individual streets and buildings. The Russians actively used KABs, which, upon impact, caused buildings to collapse along with the positions inside them. At the same time, Ukrainian units used urban structures, basements, and mines for defense and counterattacks.
According to Ruslan Tkachuk, the 100th Brigade was among the last to leave Toretsk. The withdrawal became necessary due to the situation on the flanks: holding the positions any longer posed a risk of encirclement.
As a result, the Russians were left with a ruined city that they were never able to use as they had planned.
“There are currently no command posts there, not even at the battalion level. Why? Because there’s nothing there. Everything has been destroyed, everything has been blown up—mines, buildings,” said Ruslan Tkachuk.
Colonel Ruslan Tkachuk, former commander of the 100th Separate Mechanized Brigade and now deputy commander of the 19th Army Corps, spoke about this in his first interview after taking up his new post.
