The battle for Avdiivka in Donetsk Oblast is a bloodbath. The city, which is also called the ‘gateway to Donetsk’, is semi-surrounded. Some 50,000 Russian troops are trying to advance from three sides while they keep the main supply route into the city under artillery fire. At least 15 per cent of Avdiivka has been captured – and battles are being fought in urban areas. ‘We are forced to fight at 360 degrees against more and more brigades that the enemy is bringing in,’ said Andriy Biletskyi, commander of the 3rd Assault Brigade, which was deployed to rescue Avdiivka last week.

Russia has sufficient manpower and artillery superiority, so its army is less keen on sending wave after wave of poorly trained troops into battle. Instead, it is deploying assault groups supported by tanks, armoured vehicles and aviation. Russian units are trying to seize the Industrial Prospekt road – the Ukrainian army’s vital logistical artery – to split the city in two. This would force Kyiv to rely on field roads to get supplies to both the northern and southern areas of the city. The morale among Ukrainian troops is deteriorating as they become exhausted and frustrated over a lack of weapons. It appears that Russia’s decade-long campaign to capture the city will culminate in weeks, if not days.

But rather than retreating, Oleksandr Syrsky, the new head of the Ukrainian army, has sent assault forces to Avdiivka in an attempt to push the Russians back to positions they held at least two weeks ago. History is repeating itself: Syrsky earned the nickname ‘butcher’ after he led Ukrainian soldiers to death in Bakhmut last year. Back then, both he and Volodymyr Zelensky argued that holding the city for more than ten months, even when Ukraine’s allies recommended retreating, was a strategic move.

QOSHE - Will the Ukrainian army retreat from Avdiivka? - Svitlana Morenets
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Will the Ukrainian army retreat from Avdiivka?

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16.02.2024

The battle for Avdiivka in Donetsk Oblast is a bloodbath. The city, which is also called the ‘gateway to Donetsk’, is semi-surrounded. Some 50,000 Russian troops are trying to advance from three sides while they keep the main supply route into the city under artillery fire. At least 15 per cent of Avdiivka has been captured – and battles are being fought in urban areas. ‘We are forced to fight at 360 degrees against more and more brigades that........

© The Spectator


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