A sheepdog, padding the streets on his own, was the only sign of life in this destroyed village. Flames licked the rafters of the school and smoke poured out of a burning house several streets away after Russian artillery strikes earlier in the day.
Amid the smoke and rubble, Pavlivka might seem like a dubious prize. But for the Ukrainian troops defending it last week, after recapturing it from Russian forces three weeks ago, it counted as a rare success when much of Ukraine, and the rest of the world, was transfixed by the fall of the last two cities in eastern Luhansk Province to overwhelming Russian firepower.
In this small corner of the adjacent Donetsk Province, a self-assured mechanized brigade was bucking the trend.
A Ukrainian brigade surprised Russian forces by retaking the village of Pavlivka. It was a rare success in the east when much of Ukraine, and the rest of the world, was transfixed by the fall of the last two cities in Luhansk Province. https://t.co/tGBV7EsdZi
— The New York Times (@nytimes) July 21, 2022