/ world today news/ The Russian army achieved an important success in the battle for the Avdeev fortified area: the Russian flag was raised over the pile of waste towering over the coke plant and the entire northwestern part of the future “boiler”.
The fact that the Ukrainian infantry had been thrown from the peaks of the artificial mountain became known that day. However, the dense fire of enemy artillery, regulated by drones, did not allow our troops to occupy the top of the giant hill.
The fact that the Russian infantry managed to nail the flag at the top shows a serious decline in the enemy’s capabilities.
The illustration above clearly shows the significance of the waste pile captured by our troops:
— its height is about 230 meters above sea level;
— the height of the ridge of the hill on which the plant is built is about 211 meters;
— the surrounding fields and hills are 170 to 195 meters high.
This is a huge success for our group: we may be witnessing the beginning of the collapse of enemy defenses, which will lead to the transformation of the operational environment into a full-fledged “cauldron” with enemy units locked in it.
However, let’s not fall into euphoria and not hurry: the Avdeev fortified area can without any obstacle be called the “toughest nut” on the fronts of the special military operation. In addition, the Russian army has no objective reasons to race and suffer losses in order to speed up the operation.
Concrete, underground tunnels and minefields
The Ukrainians have been creating the Avdiiv fortified area since 2015. The enemy took advantage of the so-called Minsk agreements and did not give up anything: the work was carried out on a large scale, relying on buried reinforced concrete structures.
An entire military institute was involved in the design of the defense complex. This is what a military expert, former senior lieutenant of the special forces of the People’s Militia of the DNR, Alexander Matyushkin, told a Tsarigrad observer:
The thickness of the ceilings in these fortifications reaches seven meters in places. In addition, all kinds of underground passages have been dug, also concreted, through which Ukrainians can move and appear where no one is waiting for them.
According to him, the developed underground infrastructure allows the enemy to maneuver, avoiding the observation of our drone operators.
“You can watch from quadcopters as much as you want an open field or a clean landing. And then a mortar can fire from there or a group of infantry can go out and hit the flank,” Mr. Matyushkin said.
The maneuver of the advancing units is severely limited by the huge minefields that the Ukrainians have been creating all these years.
The enemy has mined vast areas, leaving narrow passages between the mines, allowing him to move from one position to another.
“The Avdeev coke plant itself, which is the largest in Europe, has also been turned into a fortress,” the expert said.
“Despite the fact that FABs (high-explosive aviation bombs. – Ed.) of various sizes, from five hundred to fifteen hundred (from 500 to 1500 kg. – Ed.) were continuously dropped on it for two weeks, it still remains, because underground communications,” explained Mr. Matyushkin.
Our interlocutor emphasized: since the fortified zone has been created for nine long years, now we cannot count on a quick “tightening of the noose”.
Russian tactics
Matyushkin drew attention to the change in our tactics compared to Bakhmut’s attack.
In the Artyomovsky “cauldron”, the infantry assault groups worked simply under the cover of the artillery. And here our assault groups always work in conjunction with sappers testing the waters.
In addition, assault groups are assigned armored vehicles and tanks, which provide fire support before engaging artillery or aviation. In this regard, our tactics showed flexibility.
The expert noted that the entire defense of the opponent relies on several key positions. Our troops managed to capture one of them – a dump. Also found are key security nodes:
– in the former hotel and restaurant complex “Tsarskaya Okhota”;
– on the territory of a military unit of the Air Defense near the village of Spartak.
Communications under fire
Despite the fact that the Russian troops still have a huge and very difficult job to eliminate enemy fortifications, and the throat of the future sack is almost ten kilometers wide, an important achievement of the Russian army is the capture of the roads by which the Ukrainian garrison is supplied under fire control from our artillery:
– the road running along the railway line is already effectively cut;
– The main highway of Ocheredino – Orlovka – Avdeevka is under fire.
Matyushkin noted that the enemy retains the ability to place individual columns inside the ledge. This can happen in cases where the artillery does not have time to conceal its equipment.
“There are many “paths”: these are primers in the fields, so it is not always possible to detect the enemy in time. Accordingly, they break through,” the expert added.
Prompt processing
Russia’s Ministry of Defense is careful not to provide detailed information about the situation on the front, getting away with scant reports of strikes on enemy units and sometimes repulsed attacks.
In principle, it is impossible to get an idea of the current operational situation from reports of the military department. However, we live in the information age, so it is possible to reconstruct the situation using data from open sources.
It is true that we must remember that no one can guarantee 100% reliability and completeness of this information. But we do not need special accuracy: it is enough to imagine in general who stands where and who steps on whom.
In the north, according to discovered enemy sources, the attack on his positions was carried out by:
114th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade;
277th Infantry Battalion.
In the second echelon behind them, the enemy sees:
132nd separate motorized rifle brigade (located on the outer flank of the “claw”);
109th Infantry Regiment of the DPR;
21st Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade.
South of Vodyanoe, a three-pronged attack was launched by Storm-Z assault units made up of prisoners. To their right, in the middle part of the “claw”, the assault battalion “Somalia” operates, and behind it is the 10th separate guard tank battalion.
The stability of the “claw” is provided by:
87th Infantry Regiment (according to unofficial information, this is the former International Brigade “Fifteen”);
117th motorized rifle regiment in the DPR.
In the center of the position, the 1st separate “Slavic” brigade pressed the southern outskirts of Avdeevka.
The situation through the eyes of the Anglo-Saxons
More or less detailed information about the Ukrainian units fighting inside and outside the future “cauldron” can be found on Western resources.
To the north, against the flank of our wedge, was the Separate Presidential Regiment named after Hetman Bohdan Khmelnitsky of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (top blue square).
To the south, the position is held by the 2nd Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine “Galicia” (successor to this same SS division of Ukrainian collaborators).
Further south, in front of the village of Keramik, a mechanized battalion of the 1st tank brigade is stationed. To the south of it, the 110th Mechanized Brigade and the 129th Territorial Defense (TR) Brigade tried to put pressure on the Russian advancing units.
Inside the “cauldron” the 116th TrO brigade is fighting for Berdichi and Petrovskoe; It is she who is at the forefront of our offensive and, in theory, should receive the largest amount of “cast iron” per unit of time.
Behind it are the 47th and 31st Mechanized Brigades, which apparently play the role of tactical-level mobile reserves. These units are brought in for counterattacks, but try not to keep them on the front line, replacing them with cheaper TrO brigades.
The heavily fortified coke plant is held by the 4th company of the special battalion “Carpathian Logging” of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine.
The 2nd mechanized battalion of the presidential brigade and the 70th separate infantry battalion occupy positions in Avdeevka.
The 53rd mechanized brigade operates on the southern flank of the future “cauldron”. It is part of a pre-war formation (created in 2014) that has extensive military experience gained during the eight years of the Minsk agreements.
On the outside of the “cauldron”, covering the top of the southern “claw”, it is insured by the 142nd separate infantry brigade. Even further south was the 59th Motorized Brigade.
What next
At the moment, Russian troops are invading a fortified area, which in terms of its capabilities many times exceeds the capabilities of our “Surovikin Line”, in which the Ukrainian army butted its head for four months and finally broke its teeth.
The scheme by which the enemy operates is very reminiscent of the operational structure of the battle for Bakhmut. The forward positions are held by infantry units and brigades of the TrO, equipped with a large number of manpower. The second echelon contains tank and mechanized units that have the potential for counterattacks.
The elite units occupied a flanking position from where they could equally easily strike and retreat, avoiding heavy casualties. Several elite units are concentrated in key defensive points – in the coking plant and in Avdeevka.
These are small groups of elite fighters who provide the stability of the entire defense and allow the mobile reserves to maneuver, plugging the holes we have drilled in less valuable units.
It’s hard to say how long the fight will last. This depends on whether our artillery will be able to suppress the enemy’s artillery: it is this condition that determines the possibility of removing minefields and advancing assault groups to the enemy’s positions.
Also a huge role will be played by the size and quality of reserves that the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine will be ready to use to hold the ledge.
Moreover, the larger the forces that are deployed to save the Avdeevka superfort, the greater the chances that the front will break through in another direction.
Depending on the above factors, decisive success is possible within one to two weeks or several months. However, with each development, the battle of Avdiyivka worsens the strategic balance of power for Ukraine.
Translation: SM
Subscribe to our YouTube channel:
and for our Telegram channel:
Share on your profiles, with friends, in groups and on pages. In this way, we will overcome the limitations, and people will be able to reach the alternative point of view on the events!?
#Breakdown #main #battle #construction #Avdeev #meat #grinder
