Ukraine ATCMS 'Bleed Dry' Russian Avdiivka 'Meat Storm' Attacks

Russian infantry attacks at Avdiivka have become so numerous and suicidal that Ukrainian defenders are referring to them as 'meat storms.' 

Despite their previous experiences at Bakhmut and at Avdiivka, the Ukrainians are reportedly shocked at the profligate waste of human lives in the face of ATACMS, cluster munitions and fire from prepared defenses. JL 

Isabel van Brugen reports in Newsweek:

Kyiv's forces repelled what has been described as a "meat storm" launched by Russia in eastern Ukraine. Russian troops have been "bled dry" by Ukraine's use of the U.S.-supplied ATACMS (Army Tactical Missile Systems) in the war. Russian troops are reportedly returning to the front lines in Ukraine with shrapnel still stuck in their bodies. "The infantry suffers heavy excess losses directly on the battlefield, as a result of which the execution of combat missions is disrupted, and there is an overstrain of evacuation logistics and an overload of the military medical infrastructure."

Russian troops have been "bled dry" by Ukraine's use of the U.S.-supplied ATACMS (Army Tactical Missile Systems) in the war, a Russian military officer has said. Russian troops are reportedly returning to the front lines in Ukraine with shrapnel still stuck in their bodies.

Combat footage released by a Ukrainian brigade purports to show Kyiv's forces repelling what has been described as a "meat storm" launched by Russia in eastern Ukraine.The brigade has been active in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region throughout Russia's full-scale invasion of the country, which began in February 2022. Clashes have been increasing in intensity near the town of Avdiivka, which has been described as the gateway to the city of Donetsk.

"Not everyone managed to escape—there were about fifty bodies of invaders left on the battlefield," the 58th Motorized Brigade said.

"In eliminating the occupiers, the [brigade]...achieved the greatest success," it added.

The aerial footage, filmed by a drone, is coupled with dramatic music, and appears to show Ukrainian forces firing at multiple Russian tanks and armored vehicles, leaving behind trails of smoke. One portion of the clip shows the charred remains of a vehicle, and a soldier covered in flames, crawling away from scene.

The video was released on Monday by the 58th Motorized Brigade, a formation of the Ukrainian Ground Forces. The post said Russia launched its advance at dawn and fled "in disgrace" within a few hours.

Svyatoslav Golikov, an instructor of Russia's Storm-Z penal units, took to his Telegram channel on Tuesday to outline the impact the weapons are having on troops in combat. He said ATACMS, which are capable of reaching targets 100 miles or more away, are creating large-scale casualties, and this is disrupting the execution of Russian operations. Newsweek has yet to verify Golikov's comments independently.

The U.S. agreed in September to supply Ukraine with ATACMS. Given their long-range, Kyiv's forces are able to strike targets further away than missiles from the U.S.-supplied High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and M270 multiple-launch rocket systems.

Last month, Kyiv destroyed more than a dozen Russian helicopters when it used cluster versions of ATACMS missiles to strike Russian military bases in the Zaporizhzhia city of Berdiansk and in Russian-controlled Luhansk City. It marked the first use of the weapons in Ukraine.

 

"It is cluster shells that are now knocking out a huge mass of our infantry with the layering of a number of negative factors," wrote Golikov. "The infantry suffers heavy excess losses directly on the battlefield, as a result of which the execution of combat missions is disrupted, and in addition to this there is an overstrain of evacuation logistics and an overload of the military medical infrastructure."

 

Russian troops are returned to the front lines in Ukraine with shrapnel still stuck in their bodies, Golikov said. Newsweek has contacted Russia's Defense Ministry for comment via email.

 

Golikov added: "The rapid depletion of infantry units, coupled with the overload of hospitals, leads to the fact that people are massively returned to the battle, primarily underrated, and often with small damaging elements in the soft tissues not removed."

 

Golikov said that, while there are no radical shifts in the front line, and little breakthroughs from Ukraine, Russia is also having little success in the war. "And there is a price. [A] very high and sad [price]," he added.

"Exhausting and bleeding the enemy on the defensive, and then collapsing the front with powerful counterattacks would be an excellent plan if implemented," Golikov said. "But in fact, along the way, we ourselves were pretty exhausted and bled dry."

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said ATACMS posed an "additional threat" to Russian forces but that "we, of course, will be able to repel these attacks."

 

The weapons will not be "able to change at all [the] situation on the line of contact. Impossible," Putin was quoted by Russia state news agency Tass as saying.