Avdiivka Video Shows US Bradley Destroy Russian AFV in Close Combat

New footage appears to show a U.S.-supplied Bradley infantry fighting vehicle attacking several Russian armored vehicles and tanks close to the devastated Ukrainian city of Avdiivka as Ukraine works to restrain Russian advances on the eastern frontlines.

Russian forces attacked Ukrainian positions near the Russian-controlled Donetsk city with two tanks and five MT-LB tracked armored fighting vehicles, Ukraine's 47th Mechanized Brigade said in a post to messaging app Telegram on Thursday.

Moscow captured Avdiivka in February after months of grueling fighting. A strategic settlement to the northwest of the regional capital, seizing Avdiivka was a significant victory for Russian forces. In the months since, the Kremlin's troops have made slow but steady gains west, focusing largely on the Donetsk portion of the frontline, as Kyiv contended with shortages of vital supplies from its Western backers like the U.S.

Late last month, U.S. lawmakers passed tens of billions of new aid for Ukraine after the funding spent months tied up in Congress. Shortly after, the Pentagon announced it would deliver crucial ammunition, artillery and air defense supplies.

President Joe Biden said on April 24 that the deliveries would begin "right away."

"American equipment plays a very powerful role here," the 47th Mechanized Brigade said in a statement.

The Pentagon has furnished Ukrainian forces with more than 200 Bradleys, according to the Department of Defense. The Bradleys have firepower provided by their 25mm cannons, 7.62 mm coaxial machine guns and TOW anti-tank missile launchers, used to target Russian armored columns.

The Russian vehicles were burned, the Ukrainian brigade said, sharing footage appearing to show a Ukrainian airborne drone tracking a Russian vehicle carrying several troops. The fighters evacuate the vehicle before what looks to be a Bradley sets fire to the Russian equipment.

Newsweek could not independently verify the footage, and has reached out to the Russian Defense Ministry for comment via email.

The 47th Mechanized Brigade has used the U.S.-supplied Bradleys around Avdiivka for months. A commander with the brigade told Newsweek in January that Russian forces were "afraid" to launch operations "when they know that a Bradley will be against them."

Russia has captured a smattering of Ukrainian towns and villages west of Avdiivka in recent months. Moscow is at once pushing from the former Ukrainian stronghold and further north in Donetsk, west of the city of Bakhmut. Russia has controlled Bakhmut since May 2023.

The U.S.-based think tank, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) has suggested Russia may slow its onslaught west of Avdiivka to push on Chasiv Yar, a strategic settlement west of Bakhmut. Ukraine has said Russia wants to capture Chasiv Yar which would compromise Ukraine's defensive belt in the east, by May 9.

Early on Thursday, Ukraine's military said its forces had stopped 39 Russian attacks around Avdiivka over the previous 24 hours. Russia's Defense Ministry said on Wednesday that it had fought off nine Ukrainian counterattacks in settlements close to Avdiivka.