On Aug. 3, Russian forces launched a surprise offensive in the east. They pushed about six miles into Ukrainian lines toward Dobropillia, a small war-torn village previously best known for its rich coal deposits. Though fighting there is ongoing, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky today called the battle for Dobropillia a success.
“We believe this operation has disrupted Russia’s summer offensive campaign,” he told reporters.
Once Ukraine’s military leaders realized the depth of the Russian breakthrough, the deepest in more than a year, they rushed some of the country’s best units to stop it. One of those was the First Corps Azov of the National Guard of Ukraine, which was responsible for one sector in that counterattack.
In an hour-long exclusive conversation with TWZ on Thursday, Lt. Col. Arsen “Lemko” Dmytryk, the unit’s chief of staff, gave us a breakdown of how Ukraine was able to turn the tide. He also talked about the challenges ahead, given the fluid nature of the battlefield. This is part one of a two-part interview.
Some questions and answers have been lightly edited for clarity.
Lt. Col. Arsen Dmytryk, Chief of Staff of the First Azov Corps, gave an exclusive hour-long interview to The War Zone. (Photo by Oleksii Samsonov/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images) samsonov
Q: After a year of largely static front lines, how was Russia able to break through toward Dobropillia?
A: In August of this year, it was one of the hottest points of the whole front line. The enemy broke our first defense line and entered the tactical positions of our army. The enemy used the forces of the 51st Army of the Russian Federation. Navy infantry and the 8th Russian Army joined the 51st Russian Army to help them with that assault mission. There were more or less 100,000 personnel from the Russian Army.
Q: The loss of Dobropillia would have had cascading effects across the frontlines. How did you defend against it?
A: First of all, our reconnaissance worked really well. Because of our reconnaissance, we received the enemy’s plans for the assault. Also, several Ukrainian forces combined together to stabilize this front. There were more than 100 commanders from our side. At the beginning of August, we built a joint command point. All the units that took part in this operation to stop the enemy assault joined that command point.
Q: So this was a command and control location where orders would be given out to various units working together as a joint force?
A: Yes.
Reports from many Ukrainian sources of a potentially catastrophic Russian breakthrough toward Dobropilla in Donetsk region, with advance Russian troops cutting off the Dobropilla-Kramatorsk road. Unless stopped rapidly this has the potential to have very serious consequences. pic.twitter.com/EydRGyFpjZ
— Yaroslav Trofimov (@yarotrof) August 11, 2025
Q: How many units were taking part?
A: More than 10 different units. There were different commanders of different military levels who came to the command point.
Q: Who was in charge?
A: We implemented the corps system, and the corps are responsible for a specific zone. But to support us, the commander of assault forces joined our command point. Unmanned Aerial Forces also joined. The Commander in Chief, Mr. Syrskyi, is officially the number one guy who is above all. This command center was built on an Azov base. However, different commanders brought their own unique knowledge. You cannot say that this one brought us the main success. It’s a common success.
Q: You said reconnaissance played a big role in defending against the Russian incursion toward Dobropillia. Can you elaborate on what kind? Was it humans? Drones? Some other method?
A: I cannot answer directly. It was a complex of different methods.
Google Earth
Q: What tactical changes helped?
A: We started using small groups to counterattack the enemy from different flanks.
Q: How many troops were in those groups and what weapons and support do they have?
A: Sorry, this operation is not finished, so we cannot comment on it, but there are some sectors on the front line where the enemy has completely surrendered. But it is not a lot, it is like a few dozen people.
Q: Any other major changes in battlefield tactics by either side?
A: Look, soon there will be no leaves on the trees. They would all have fallen and without leaves, it’s almost impossible to use these small groups of enemies on foot because we will simply see them. But the enemy keeps learning. Every time the enemy uses new tactics.
Q: Talk about Russian armor. How are the Russians massing it?
A: We don’t see that the enemy is using tanks really often. Instead, they are using armored vehicles and small groups of assault troops who go just by foot or motorcycle. The enemy uses tanks and armored vehicles in order to make a hole in Ukrainian defense lines. After they make this hole, they throw infantry on regular vehicles or motorcycles. So their tactic is that first they advance with a tank and this is a special tank. It has radio electronic warfare and some special anti-mine equipment.
A Russian ‘turtle tank’ seen with a mine roller attached. (Via X) Unknown author
After the tank, they have armored vehicles for infantrymen. Usually, before the tank, they can send several motorcycles to clear the road of mines. We call this a tank fist. So when this tank fist makes a hole in the Ukrainian defenses, Russian infantry use either motorcycles or light vehicles like buggies. Nowadays, this is the enemy’s most common assault tactic. But we should say the enemy uses the meat grinder still. Every single day, the Russian army loses hundreds of people by sending them either on foot or on motorcycles. This is the meat grinder.
Q: How many tanks do they have? Are they massing a lot of tanks for these attacks?
A: They operate in columns, and a column consists of five or six different vehicles. Only one vehicle, the first one out of these five, is a tank.
Q: But how many tanks are the Russians massing for their attacks in Donetsk?
A: Each corps has its own zone of responsibility, and it’s hard to answer your question about the number of tanks, because we see the tank approaching our zone of responsibility from other zones of responsibility. So we cannot tell you the amount, because we can only see our responsibility zone.
Q: Are these assaults being supported by drones, artillery or aviation assets?
A: Mostly it’s artillery support and then the drone support. They almost don’t use aviation.
Q: Why not?
A: The enemy tried to go on assault missions during bad weather, like rainy weather, and you can’t use planes during rain. Why does the enemy choose this technique? So that our Ukrainian drones won’t attack them because of the rain.
Q: It’s not rainy season yet. Is there a lot of rain now?
A: It’s not like it’s a season of rain now; it’s more like the enemy is looking for rainy days to use for an assault mission. When there is rain, there are no drones in the sky. For either side.
Q: How do you defend against the Russian assaults?
A: We have built different obstacles. Physical obstacles help defend us, and it is the work of our engineering support forces, who are building trenches and so forth. We use remote mining technologies. We use different types of UAVs. It’s FPV drones and bigger drones with wings. And from our side, we always have two to three tanks that are always ready to start fighting.
Q: Do you use your tanks in defensive positions, or do you go on offense with them?
A: Mostly defensive.
In the battle for Dobropillia, Azov has used its tanks mostly in defense. (Azov)
Q: Zelensky said the counteroffensive to stop the Russian advance to Dobropillia derailed Russia’s summer offensive campaign. What’s your assessment of that from your battlefield perspective?
A: Yes, the enemy is stopped. But to be more correct, no, it is not finished. The correct answer is the following Russian operation on that part of the front is not successful. As we talk with you, the fighting is still going on.
Q: Do you think that the Russians can mount a major offensive, either towards Dobropillia or elsewhere in the Donetsk region?
A: So the enemy has the ability to make new counteroffensives, but it wouldn’t be as it was at the beginning of August.
Q: Why?
A: Only that from August 3, 5,000 Russian soldiers were killed. We do not count wounded now. So that’s the answer to your question. We eliminated hundreds of their vehicles and different equipment, and they have thousands of wounded soldiers on their side.
Q: How many troops have you captured?
A: We have about 80 in captivity.
Russian Prisoners from the Dobropillia Sector
The video shows Russian soldiers captured in the area of responsibility of the First Corps Azov of the National Guard of Ukraine.
Chasing after “success,” the Russian command threw its troops into an assault on one of the hottest… pic.twitter.com/7GVXlDz2lp
— First Corps Azov of the National Guard of Ukraine (@azov_media) September 9, 2025
Q: How many casualties has Azov suffered in this battle and how much equipment have you lost?
A: We cannot provide such data.
Q: In his press conference today, Zelensky mentioned that after the Russian push toward Dobropillia was stopped, they are now redoubling their efforts to take Pokrovsk, about 12 miles to the south. Tell me about what is taking place in Pokrovsk, where you were before the current operations.
A: The enemy’s main focus is on pushing towards the Dobropillia and Pokrovsk sectors. So the goal for the enemy is to enter the city of Pokrovsk. In recent months, the enemy can do this. The enemy tried to get inside the city by using small assault groups on foot. They don’t use vehicles. But our units, which stand in defense of Pokrovsk and Myrnograd [a few miles to the east], they really kill lots of the enemy.
In the second part of our interview, Dmytryk dives deeper into the evolving drone war on the frontlines.
Contact the author: howard@thewarzone.com