The Russians are advancing near Avdievka to distract the Ukrainian Armed Forces from another important direction, - ISW
Date: 2023-10-11 Author: Кирило Загоруйко Categories: WAR
Russian troops on October 9 launched localized offensive operations in the Avdeevka area of the Donetsk region and southwest of Orekhov in the western Zaporozhye region, which are likely aimed at drawing Ukrainian forces away from the Rabotino area.
“The Ukrainian General Staff confirmed that up to three Russian battalions attacked in the direction of Avdiivka, and ISW observed footage of fighting in the area, but ISW did not observe any confirmation of Russian advances at the time of this writing,” the American Institute for the Study of War said in a report.
It is noted that Russian offensive operations in the Avdeevka area are aimed at encircling Ukrainian troops in Avdeevka and capturing the city.
At the same time, as ISW notes, the successful encirclement of Avdeevka, one of the most heavily fortified areas of the front line in the Donetsk region, will likely require more forces than Russia currently allocates in the Avdeevka-Donetsk axis. In general, Russian troops deployed DPR army corps forces and additional volunteer formations here, which "have suffered greatly from command culture and tensions with regular Russian units." Moreover, ISW has not noticed any recent Russian strengthening in this area.
"Russian forces have also carried out hard offensive operations for relatively minimal territorial gains near Avdievka during the last year and a half of the war, and Russian military commanders are likely aware that an attempt to capture Avdievka will require more and better units than are currently deployed in the area "- analysts note.
ISW notes that the intensification of Russian offensive operations in the area of Avdiivka and Zherebyanki coincides with other localized offensive efforts in the Luhansk region and in the east of the Zaporozhye region, all of which are likely aimed at pinning down Ukrainian forces and preventing the Ukrainian command from moving reserves to critical sectors of the front in the west of Zaporozhye region.
