Ukraine armor appears to have broken through Russian defensive line

 Business Insider:

Ukraine appears to have punched through Russia's formidable anti-tank traps and "dragon's teeth" defenses in a significant advance, multiple war analysts have said, reacting to footage that appeared to show Western-made Stryker and Marder infantry fighting vehicles pushing past Russian defenses.

The reported armor advances mark a notable development for Ukrainian forces fighting in the southern Zaporizhzhia region. They have found momentum in recent weeks with small territorial gains, and have managed to put pressure on Russia's tough defensive lines.

George Barros, a lead geospatial intelligence analyst with the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), shared a video on social media on Thursday that appeared to show the Ukrainian armor advances.

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The breakthrough could be significant if Ukraine is able to expand it and push by the remaining Russian defense.  Russia's ability to respond at this point may also be in trouble since it has run short of troops in many locations and is putting untrained troops into the front lines.

See, also:

Shockingly Quick Defeat Shows Putin Is Now Too Weak to Defend His Allies

A year and a half after the Russian president’s rash, illegal, blundering invasion of Ukraine, Russian peacekeepers have been forced to admit defeat in the faraway enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, handing control back to Azerbaijan after a 24-hour military offensive, which killed a senior Russian officer.

For Azerbaijan, which began talks with Karabakh’s Armenian separatist leaders on Thursday to formally take back control of the region, it looked like a surprisingly swift conclusion to a 35-year conflict that has cost thousands of lives.

But for Putin's Russia, it’s an equally stunning loss, proof that Moscow's writ no longer holds in the Caucasus and that the post-Soviet security bloc Putin set up to mirror NATO in the region—the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO)—is a spent force.
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And:

 Russian commanders are ordering troops to make 'hysterical' and 'ill-conceived' counterattacks with shoddy artillery shells: report

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The think tank added that soldiers were being posted to the front line with shoddy artillery shells that don't explode when fired, and referred to reports that Russia had been sacrificing safety and quality in its efforts to build weapons quickly.

It added that morale was low after Ukrainian forces killed "most of an unspecified Russian regiment and almost an entire retreating assault group in the area."

And:

Russian soldiers who ran out of ammunition say they are being sent to 'certain death' in a video shared by a Ukrainian official

And:

 Russia is barely training its troops, probably rendering them incapable of going on the offensive, UK intel says

And:

ISW Reports: 

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Russian forces currently defending in western Zaporizhia Oblast have been unable to prevent Ukrainian forces from making gradual but steady advances since mid-August. ISW has consistently observed Ukrainian forces making slow but regular advances in western Zaporizhia Oblast despite the Russian military’s lateral redeployment of elements of relatively elite units to reinforce Russian defensive operations in western Zaporizhia Oblast.[8] The Russian military laterally redeployed elements of the 7th Guards Mountain Airborne (VDV) Division and the 76th Guards VDV Division to the Robotyne area in mid-August to repel Ukrainian attacks and possibly to relieve elements of the 22nd and 45th Separate Spetsnaz Brigades that had been counterattacking against Ukrainian advances during the earlier phases of Ukrainian counteroffensive operations.[9] Geolocated footage published on September 20 and 21 shows elements of the 22nd Guards Spetsnaz Brigade operating west of Verbove (18km southeast of Orikhiv), suggesting that the Russian command has tactically transferred elements of the 22nd Guards Spetsnaz Brigade to support VDV elements already observed defending in the area.[10] A Ukrainian soldier defending in southern Ukraine told the WSJ in an article published on September 21 that Russian troops defending front-line trenches are “poor-quality,” but that counterattacking assault troops are “stronger.”[11] The Ukrainian soldier’s statements are consistent with ISW’s observations that relatively elite Russian Spetsnaz and VDV elements appear to be the primary counterattack elements in western Zaporizhia Oblast.
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