On February 18, 2024, the Russian army continued to clear Avdeyevka and launched an attack on Rastochno, and the Ukrainian army has hastily retreated.
In the Zaporizhzhia direction, Russian troops have already penetrated the village of Rabotino from the south and west, and one section of the road has advanced more than a kilometer. To the west of Verbovoy, the Russian army occupied several Ukrainian strongholds, and the counterattack of the Ukrainian army was repulsed.
In the Klinki area in the Kherson direction, the Ukrainian army carried out part of the rotation of personnel and transferred several squads to the bridgehead on the left bank.
The units deployed by the Ukrainian army to fight on the right bank of the Dnieper River are being transferred in the direction of Donetsk, which indicates that the front-line forces are very tight.
Result statistics
The results of the battle on February 17 gradually emerged, and according to reports, 2,300 Ukrainian troops were eliminated on the same day, including prisoners.
So far in 2024, the Russian army has only 4 to 5 battle reports of more than 1,000 enemies killed in a single day, and the average daily average is 600 to 800 people, including all killed, disabled, missing, and captured (kia wia mia pow).
According to the report of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation on February 18, 2024, the results of the battle on the 17th included 2,300 military personnel, 22 armored vehicles, including 6 tanks, 17 artillery systems, 19 special vehicles, 105 drones, Strela-10 anti-aircraft missile vehicles, an TPQ-48 anti-battery radar.
The Russian "** Army Group completely liberated the city of Avdeyevka and advanced in depth 86 km.
Avdeyevka
The Russian army is still clearing the city and continues to advance westward, as of 14 o'clock on February 18, 2024.
Clean-up and demining work in urban areas is indispensable, and individual Ukrainian squads hiding in the corners of the coke plant even tried to break through at night, but were intercepted by the Ukrainian army.
Due to the chaotic organization of the retreat of the Ukrainian army and the interruption of communication between the various units, it is likely that there are still isolated small groups of Ukrainian troops hiding in some places in the city. Some prisoners of war admitted that they were not aware of the evacuation plan.
At the same time, the Russian Aerospace Forces and artillery units are conducting attacks on the temporary defensive lines of the Ukrainian army in Rastochkinno, Torenkoye, Severny and Orlovka. The Russian Aerospace Forces even dropped ODAB-1500 aerial bombs to launch an attack on Orlovka.
At the moment, the personnel of the Ukrainian army who fled from Avdeyevka gathered in these villages, waiting for the transfer, however, the retreat was hampered due to the chaotic organization of the withdrawal of the Ukrainian army and the lack of preparation of sufficient vehicles for evacuation.
The losses of the Ukrainian army in the process of fleeing this time will be very large, but it is difficult to accurately calculate the results.
The temporary loss of control and confusion of the Ukrainian army gave the Russian army the opportunity to continue its advance to the west, and according to preliminary information, the settlement of the village of Lastochno was taken over by the Russian army in the evening. The Ukrainian army has left its positions, the Russian army is clearing up, and the Ukrainian army in Sivilna has also retreated.
In other words, in one day, all the Ukrainian troops responsible for the break gave up their blocking positions one after another.
The Russian 1st Army is attacking Pervomayskoye, advancing inside the village and breaking through on the flanks to approach Nevelskoye.
Ukrainian military analysts admit that in the east and southeast of Nevelskoye, Russian troops continue to press in the direction of the village and Domaha Liang, advancing with a range of up to 2 kilometers wide and a depth of up to 500 m.
Zaporozhye
Just when the world's eyes were focused on the sudden collapse of the Avdeyevka Ukrainian army, the Russian army launched a larger offensive in Zaporizhzhie.
In the Orekhovsky direction, the Russian 70th Motorized Rifle Regiment drove the Ukrainian army out of the buffer zone south of Rabotino, advanced a total of 2 kilometers in the evening and at night on various sections, capturing several large strongholds and capturing a number of prisoners.
The Russian army launched a total of two waves of attacks on the night of the 18th, and at 21 o'clock the Russian army advanced a kilometer in the area near Labotino and regained control of some of the positions occupied by the Ukrainian army in the summer offensive of 2023, arriving on the western outskirts of the village.
In the northwest of Verbovoy, the Russian army also occupied at least three plantations and repelled the Ukrainian counterattack.
In the western part of the Kopany-Novodanilovka line, the Russian army dispatched a number of infantry fighting vehicles with troops to launch an attack, but it was unsuccessful.
At the same time, Russian artillery and aviation struck at the concentrations of Ukrainian troops and counter-battery stations in the positions of Mensky and Shcherbaki.
In the area of Pyatikhatki and Shcherbakov, the Ukrainian army is actively laying mines to prevent the offensive of the Russian army in the region.
In order to stabilize the situation in the Rabotino area, the command of the Ukrainian army is ready to put into battle 116 reserve units that had previously been restored in the rear part, but these reserves are too far from the front line to not necessarily be in time.
At the same time, the 128th Separate Brigade, which was once again "regrouped", was again tragic, when a detonator accidentally detonated in the MTLB transporting mines, resulting in the death of 20 military personnel, including 4 officers.
The battle continued until 01:00 on February 19, when the Russian army continued its offensive at the "Rabotinsky ledge".
According to the Archangel special forces, Russian paratroopers and motorized infantry units managed to advance 2 kilometers to a depth of 2 kilometers to the southern and southeastern outskirts of Rabotino.
Now the question is whether the Ukrainian army will have time to mobilize reinforcements to maintain the defense of Rabotino. The settlement was badly damaged during the summer battles and could not be put in large forces to defend it.
Similarly, it will be difficult for the Russian army to gain a foothold in the rubble and will have to continue its attack north in search of a better location to defend itself after capturing the village.
In addition, on the outskirts of **Mutter, in the direction of Bodanovka, the Russian army advanced 1 km in the wilderness, continuing to approach Chasov Yar, while advancing along the pond towards the outskirts of Ivanovskoye (Kra**ye).
Ukrainian TG channel reports: Russian troops are advancing west in the area of farmland east of Ivanovsky. With a range of up to 2 km wide and a depth of 850 m, the battle continues.