Ukraine IS Beating Back Russia's Avdiivka Attacks With Adaptive Tactics

Russia's seemingly endless supply of convicts seeking pardons, armed with Chinese and North Korean weapons, continue to fail to penetrate Ukrainian defenses at Avdiivka. 

Ukraine's forces' adaptive tactics and weapons handling remains superior to Russian meat wave assaults. JL 

Euromaidan Press reports:

Overall, Russian attempts to improve their tactical position have been unsuccessful. Russian commanders realized that no matter how many soldiers they send to attack the chemical plant, they will be futile as long as Ukrainians control critical firing points that allows them to kill Russian reinforcements during deployment to the contact line. Even though Russian forces managed to breach a defensive position south of the village, the exhausted and degraded Russian units lost all positions to a first Ukrainian counterattack, while the Ukrainian defense in Stepove never allowed Russians to even get a foothold.

Today, there are a lot of updates from the Donetsk region.

Screenshot from a Reporting From Ukraine video.

Here, the most intense clashes took place on the northern flank of Avdiivka. The goal of the Russian forces was temporarily downgraded to a much less ambitious, and now Russians are not trying to encircle Avdiivka but rather improve their tactical position before making another attack on the chemical plant.

Screenshot from a Reporting From Ukraine video.

The Russian commanders realized that no matter how many soldiers they send to attack the chemical plant, these attacks will be futile as long as Ukrainians control a critical firing point that allows them to kill Russian reinforcements during the process of deployment to the contact line.

Screenshot from a Reporting From Ukraine video.

Last time, I told you that Russians adjusted their plan on the move and immediately attempted to assault the Ukrainian firing point from multiple sides. However, due to the lack of forces, the attacks failed, and the Russians lost more ground than they gained.

Over the last several days, Russian forces were regrouping in preparation for the second attempt to assault Ukrainian fortifications north of the chemical plant. Ukrainian fighters reported that Russians do not use any equipment to transport their personnel to the contact line due to the low survival rate of these vehicles. That is why their personnel carriers transport their soldiers, at best, to the outskirts of Krasnohorivka, from where they go by foot to their positions.

Screenshot from a Reporting From Ukraine video.

Ukrainian fighters also reported that Russians accumulate forces in all tree lines, not just those along the contact line. Recently released footage shows how Ukrainians strike Russian shelters located in the middle of the fields.

Screenshot from a Reporting From Ukraine video.

Ukrainians usually wait until a new batch arrives at the spot and then shell the region with cluster shells. This usually forces Russians to get out of their shelters to assist wounded personnel, which exposes even more troops to Ukrainian fire.

Screenshot from a Reporting From Ukraine video.

Even though clever artillery and drone strikes hinder the accumulation of Russian forces, they do not prevent it, so eventually, Russian forces launched an attack. This time, Russians were solely focused on the most problematic region and were determined to advance as deep as possible to secure their supply lines.

Screenshot from a Reporting From Ukraine video.

Ukrainians were prepared to face multiple distracting attacks along the line, but Russians decided to leave their flanks exposed to ensure that they managed to overwhelm Ukrainian forces. This approach worked, and Russians cleared the first section of the tree line. Ukrainian fighters were fighting back for so long that they ran out of ammunition faster than the Russians ran out of troops. When the remaining 2 soldiers on the position ran out of ammo, they decided to surrender.

Screenshot from a Reporting From Ukraine video.

Unfortunately, drone footage shows that once they surrendered, the Russians killed them. Ukrainian fighters from the 47th mechanized brigade recognized their fighters on the video and stated that they were going to storm them shortly and that they would not be taking captives. Shortly after that, Ukrainian Avdiivka Military Administration Head Vitaliy Barabash stated the counterattack was successful, and all Russian soldiers were liquidated.

Screenshot from a Reporting From Ukraine video.

While Ukrainians launched their counterattack south of Stepove, Russian forces decided to attack the settlement itself. Ukrainian fighters released a video showing how artillery crews coordinate with the reconnaissance drone operator and annihilate one Russian assault unit after another. The drone uses a thermal camera, so all the white dots that you see are Russian soldiers.

Screenshot from a Reporting From Ukraine video.

The footage actually shows the end of the fight, as Russians run away from Stepove back into the tree line in large numbers and without coordination. Unfortunately for Russians, very few of them survived. In the morning, Ukrainians sent a drone into the tree line to check on the situation and found loads and loads of Russian bodies lying in the tree line.

Overall, Russian attempts to improve their tactical position were unsuccessful. And even initially though Russian forces managed to breach the defensive position south of the village by overwhelming Ukrainians with manpower until Ukrainians ran out of bullets, the exhausted and degraded Russian units lost all positions to a first Ukrainian counterattack, while the Ukrainian defense in Stepove never allowed Russians to even get a foothold.

Screenshot from a Reporting From Ukraine video.