A top Ukrainian commander has claimed that Russia’s biggest offensive in months – involving tanks, thousands of soldiers and armoured vehicles in an attack on the eastern Ukrainian town of Avdiivka – is failing, as he admitted Kyiv’s own attempts to advance in the south were proving “difficult”.

Russian forces have pummelled the town over the past week, a key bulge surrounded by Russian-held territory on the eastern Donbas front.

It is one of the largest assaults by Moscow since last year’s full-scale invasion and comes at a time when Ukraine’s counteroffensive is moving slowly, and the world is focused on the imminent Israeli ground invasion of Gaza.

  • Hubi@feddit.de
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    1 year ago

    I’m about to lose count on this. Is this the 3rd or 4th time the Russians have failed to capture it?

    Edit: If their current large scale assault fails it’s apparently the 5th time in a row (including the one in 2017)

  • AutoTL;DR@lemmings.worldB
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    1 year ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:


    Russian forces have pummelled the town over the past week, a key bulge surrounded by Russian-held territory on the eastern Donbas front.

    Col Dmytro Lysyuk – the commander of Ukraine’s 128th separate mountain assault brigade – said he believed there was zero possibility the Russian army would break through.

    He said that sending a lengthy military column into battle – a tactic used when Russian forces tried to seize Kyiv last year, and the eastern town of Vuhledar in February – would not work.

    They included numerous minefields laid by Russia over the past 18 months; an extensive defensive trench network, dug in three lines; and kamikaze and first person view (FPV) drones.

    Pentagon officials have criticised Ukraine’s battlefield strategy and suggested that a large concentration of forces at a single point could achieve quicker results.

    “A return to ‘offensive’ tactics after almost a year of defence is not easy for the troops,” they said, adding that Ukraine’s forces would seek to regain lost positions.


    The original article contains 1,084 words, the summary contains 165 words. Saved 85%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!

  • Kualk@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    There’s nothing but bad news for Ukraine on this direction.

    All these downvotes mean nothing in face of truth after time has passed.

  • Kualk@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    No, it is the 1st time.

    Russia has accomplished its tactical goal of taking important local high point and applying pressure on the city itself.

    The location is heavily reinforced with concrete after 7 years or so of fortification. But Russians have taken the place.

    This article is just an attempt at damage control by claiming goals Russians did not set yet.

    Russia doesn’t have to take the city. Supply lines are targetable by artillery. It is a perfect setup to bleed Ukrainian side if they want to keep the city.

    Ukraine is set to loose either way: if they want to keep the city, they will loose lots of people. If they abandon, it’s a black eye.

    Given what Zelensky did last winter, he will keep the city and send lots of people into meat grinder half of which will die trying to reach the city.