On the Ukrainian front, after a fierce battle, the Russian armed forces announced that they had de facto control over Avdiivka. The battle lasted for months, and the city was eventually cut in half, before the Russian army launched a clean-up operation. Despite reports that the Ukrainian army captured the settlement within two years of the start of the military operation, the Russian army launched an active offensive on Avdiivka early in ***.
Contrary to the reports of some chauvinistic channels and **, the Ukrainian army did not surrender. They put up stubborn resistance in every fortified area and on every street, paying huge losses in human life. Therefore, describing the battle as a "siege" is not only a distortion of the facts, but also a disrespect to the Russian soldiers who fought valiantly and struggled in the mud.
The Battle of Avdiivka has many similarities with the Battle of **Mutter. In both battles, the Russian Armed Forces captured the city by frontal offensive, and the fighting was fought mainly on the streets of the urban area. ** The result of the Battle of Mutt was that Russia took control of the city in ruins, without intact buildings. And the territorial recovery of Avdiivka is also strategically important, keeping the front line away from Donetsk, which is shelled daily.
In a tactical environment, the Russian Armed Forces, after months of fierce fighting, penetrated deep into the enemy lines and cut Avdiivka in half. This cuts off the southern part of the city, which is occupied by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, from the area of the coking plant in the north. As the battle progressed, the southern part of the city was completely surrounded, and supply lines were cut off.
Western **, especially American newspapers, began to report on the imminent fall of the city into the control of the Russian armed forces. The Washington Post notes that the destroyed coking plant could become the last Ukrainian stronghold in Avdiivka. The Ukrainian military admits that they are under pressure to surrender, while the army has begun to retreat from some positions.
Julian Repke, a German journalist and columnist for the newspaper **, also reported on the tactical encirclement of Avdiivka. He described that the Russian flag has been raised near the place where Zelensky was at the end of last year, and the city is surrounded by Russian tactics. The biggest challenge for Ukrainians is how to get out of the city alive.
The Ukrainian command admits that Avdiivka may be lost and says that troops are partially withdrawing to more advantageous positions. Subsequently, the new commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Alexander Syrsky, announced the withdrawal of troops from Avdiivka and the transfer to a more favorable line of defense for defense. However, the exact location of the new line of defense remains unclear.
The evacuation did not go as smoothly as described by the Ukrainian command. In the chaos, the Ukrainian command partially lost control of the situation and even ordered the abandonment of the wounded. Despite this, most of the Ukrainian army managed to leave the city. The Russian Armed Forces captured a large number of prisoners of war, but failed to completely encircle the southern regions of Avdiivka in time.
Despite this, the Battle of Avdiivka ended in victory for the Russian Armed Forces. The battle once again highlights the brutality and complexity of urban combat in modern warfare. Soldiers on both sides fought to the death between the streets and buildings, paying great sacrifices.
Both the Battle of Avdiivka and the Battle of **Mutter demonstrated the realities of positional warfare and the adjustment of trench warfare. In both battles, both sides were forced into frontal assaults and street battles due to the stalemate of positions and the inability to bypass the topographical constraints of the city from the flanks. Although both sides attempted flanking attacks and outflanking operations, these attempts ultimately failed. In urban areas, it was easier for infantry to hide and camouflage themselves, and to use buildings to increase resistance to artillery fire. This limits the use of modern ** such as drones and precision artillery in open areas.
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