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The Russian army is said to be planning the final capture of Avdiivka. But Ukrainian defenders in Donbass are well aware of the tactics of Moscow's troops.
Avdiivka – Russian losses in Ukraine are manifested in one name: Avdiivka. According to Ukrainian and Western estimates, Russia would have lost between 18,000 and 20,000 soldiers killed or wounded in just a few weeks in the small city of Donbass.
War in Ukraine: the Russian army is reportedly preparing the final attack on Avdiivka
Furthermore, Moscow is said to have lost around 250 armored vehicles and tanks in this eastern section of the front since mid-October – in this section alone. However, the noose of Kremlin autocrat Vladimir Putin's troops, about which not only Federal Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) warned decisively before Christmas, is slowly tightening around the Ukrainian defenders in Avdiivka.
According to Ukrainian intelligence, Putin's invading army is determined to take control of the bombed-out industrial city with a former population of 32,000, using a three-axis strategy. Avdiivka's strategic importance in the Ukrainian war is controversial. “The enemy is now trying to advance selectively,” Vitaliy Barabash told the Kyiv Post: “They, relatively speaking, have prioritized three (Axis, ed.) and are sending mainly equipment and large numbers of infantry there.”
Ukraine's 47th mechanized brigade is still currently controlling large parts of the city, mainly with the use of American-supplied Bradleys – Kiev recently shared a much-publicized video of one of Avdiivka's armored personnel carriers. Another video that is circulating on
Avdiivka in Ukraine: Moscow sent tens of thousands of Russian soldiers
When the Russian General Staff sent tens of thousands of soldiers there in the fall (and many of them to their deaths), Western observers still assumed that these same clues were strategically important. There has been no convoy here for a long time, and Avdiivka has been contested since pro-Russian separatists rebelled against Kiev in Donbas in the summer of 2014 and later regular Russian troops invaded the east of the devastated country in violation of international rules. . law. This also applies to the northern sections of the disused railway line.
Avdiivka
Avdiivka is a small town with a population of 32,000 in Donetsk Oblast in eastern Ukraine. The former industrial city is located almost 15 kilometers north of the center of the large city of Donetsk (about 900,000 inhabitants). It was known for its coking plant for producing coke and raw gas from coal. In March 2023, Avdiivka was largely destroyed by Russian strikes after having been the scene of a military conflict in Donbass since 2014 – again in winter 2023.
Barabash is the head of the city's military administration. “Is very difficult. It’s really very hot,” he continued, telling the Kyiv Post: “Recently, people often ask if it has become easier – that’s not the case. The enemy will try to achieve its objective of taking the city.” The situation around Avdiivka is difficult, but the Ukrainian defenders will continue to contain the Russians, said Barabash. This does not correspond exclusively to the statements of all soldiers, while a former mercenary de Wagner apparently wants to testify about Russian war crimes in Donbass in The Hague.
After Russian attacks: Ukrainian soldiers from Avdiivka describe exhaustion
“They attack all the time. We are losing a lot of soldiers. You no longer have the strength to fight them. “They are shooting at us with artillery and drones,” a wounded Ukrainian soldier described to ZDF remarkably openly during his treatment behind the front.
Avdiivka, meanwhile, is apparently becoming Putin's mass grave, littered with the bodies of (often young) men whose futures were stolen – from both sides. The General Staff in Kiev reassured and declared on Thursday (21 December): “Our soldiers are maintaining the defense and inflicting significant losses on the occupants. The Defense Forces repelled 22 enemy attacks east of Novokalynove, Novobakhmutivka and Avdiivka.”
Meanwhile, there are increasing reports that the Ukrainians are resorting to brutal tactics in Avdiivka, following serious setbacks in recent months. “Our goal is to have as positive a death ratio as possible,” an unnamed official explained, according to Bild: “If it is 10 to 1 in our favor, we will continue, if it is 1 to 1, we will withdraw.” These are, therefore, dead soldiers.
Avdiivka in Donbass: the Russian army needs state media to win
According to ZDF, the Russians would have one thing in mind if they took the city: the state media would sell the occupation of Avdiivka at home as a strategic victory, even though it far exceeded the strategic benefit. But Russian soldiers live a different and truly brutal reality, far from home. (PM)