During World War I and the Russian Civil War, the settlement changed hands between warring factions several times. As a result of the Holodomor, a manmade famine across the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic from 1932 to 1933, a documented 281 people in Mala Tokmachka died. During World War II, Mala Tokmachka was occupied by Nazi Germany between October 1941 and September 1943. There was a memorial installed in honor of the Red Army soldiers who died liberating the village and to the people from the village who died elsewhere on the frontline.[1]
At the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Mala Tokmachka became a frontline settlement during Russia's initial advance into the nation. The population would drop to only around 200 people by May 2023 due to the proximity of the fighting to the village and consistent Russian shelling which destroyed much of the local infrastructure and utilities.[4] The settlement would remain as part of the minor Mala Tokmachka–Novofedorivka,[5]Mala Tokmachka–Ocheretuvate,[6]Mala Tokmachka–Polohy,[7] and Kamianske–Mali Shcherbaky [uk]–Mala Tokmachka,[8] frontlines until 7 June 2023, when Ukrainian forces would first attempt to push the fighting away from the settlement during the 2023 Ukrainian counteroffensive in the south.[7] Armed with new western equipment,[7] the initial attack by Ukraine's 47th Assault Brigade and 33rd Mechanized Brigade went poorly. A Ukrainian tank column came under anti-tank missile fire while attempting to cross a minefield outside of the village.[9] The failed attack would result in up to 25 Ukrainian vehicles becoming damaged or destroyed, including at least one Leopard 2, which would result in a good deal of negative coverage about the effectiveness of the new counteroffensive among multiple news and social media outlets.[9][10] The total number of vehicles lost would be lessened by the later retrieval and repair of some of the damaged vehicles.[11]
Despite the original set-back, Ukrainian Brigadier GeneralOleksii Hromov would claim that Ukrainian forces had advanced up to 3 km (1.9 mi) near the settlement since beginning their counteroffensive on 15 June.[12] A lack of a major breakthrough on this part of the frontline for Ukrainian forces would lead to largely positional fighting being taken up by late June.[6] As of May 2024, fighting was still ongoing in Robotyne, southwest of Mala Tokmachka, with only relatively minor positional fighting occurring up to this point.
As of the 2001 Ukrainian census, Mala Tokmachka had a population of 3,037 people. By 2016, the number had slightly dropped to 3,005. The population is mostly ethnic Ukrainians.[1]
^Hird, Karolina; Bailey, Riley; Mappes, Grace; Evans, Angelica; Clark, Mason (23 June 2023). "Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, June 23, 2023". Institute for the Study of War. Retrieved 8 August 2023. Ukrainian forces continued counteroffensive operations in western Zaporizhia Oblast on June 23. The Ukrainian General Staff reported that Ukrainian troops had partial success on […] the Mala Tokmachka-Novofedorivka line
^ abBailey, Riley; Mappes, Grace; Stepanenko, Kateryna; Evans, Angelica; Barros, George; Kagan, Frederick W. (30 June 2023). "Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, June 30, 2023". Retrieved 8 August 2023. The Ukrainian General Staff reported that Ukrainian forces achieved partial success along the Mala Tokmachka-Ocheretuvate line […] and consolidated on newly reached lines. […] Russian milbloggers claimed that […] there are mainly positional battles along this sector of the front.
^ abcHird, Karolina; Barros, George; Mappes, Grace; Wolkov, Nicole; Clark, Mason; Kagan, Frederick W. (8 June 2023). "Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, June 8, 2023". Institute for the Study of War. Retrieved 8 August 2023. Russian sources began reporting late at night on June 7 that elements of Ukrainian brigades that have recently been equipped with Western kit launched an attack southwest of Orikhiv in western Zaporizhia Oblast. Several Russian milbloggers claimed that Ukrainian forces attacked along the Mala Tokmachka-Polohy line with the aim of breaking through the Russian defensive line
^Hird, Karolina; Bailey, Riley; Stepanenko, Kateryna; Philipson, Layne; Mappes, Grace; Kagan, Frederick W. (25 January 2023). "Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, January 25, 2023". Institute for the Study of War. Retrieved 8 August 2023. Russian forces have re-initiated offensive operations […] along [the] Kamianske-Mali Shcherbaky-Mala Tokmachka line. […] Ukrainian officials have noted that these attacks are conducted by small squad-sized assault groups of 10 to 15 people and are aimed at dispersing Ukrainian defensive lines.
^Hird, Karolina; Bailey, Riley; Mappes, Grace; Clark, Mason (15 June 2023). "Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, June 15, 2023". Institute for the Study of War. Retrieved 8 August 2023. Deputy Chief of the Main Operational Department of the Ukrainian General Staff Brigadier General Oleksii Hromov reported that Ukrainian forces have advanced up to 3km near Mala Tokmachka
