On July 22, 2026, Russian forces from the 8th and 41st Combined Arms Armies and the 90th Tank Division launched a rare large-scale mechanized assault in Donetsk Oblast near Shakhove. Columns of tanks, armored vehicles, and light transport advanced from Novoekonomichne and Vozdvyzhenka, supported by Gerbera and Lancet drones plus rocket artillery, in an attempt to break into nearby settlements over about four hours.
Ukrainian units under the 1st Azov Corps of the National Guard, working with SBU Alpha special operations, Unmanned Systems Forces, Air Force aviation, and Border Guard drone teams, stopped the attack. They used artillery, MLRS, mines, damaged crossings, and FPV drone swarms. Some Russian T-72B3A tanks carried the new Arena-M active protection system, which intercepted some incoming drones before being overwhelmed.
Ukrainian reports list destroyed equipment as seven tanks, six armored fighting vehicles, one BM-21 Grad, one Tornado-S (and a first confirmed Sarma/Sarm 300 mm launcher used in support), three engineering vehicles, and 47 light vehicles. They claimed 123 Russian troops killed and 29 wounded. The assault was fully repelled.
The episode illustrated both Russian efforts to restore armored mass with new active protection and the continued dominance of cheap FPV drones and coordinated fires against concentrated mechanized attacks. These figures come from Ukrainian official and unit statements and have not been independently verified in full.
