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Too little ammunition, retreat too late: This is what Ukrainian soldiers report about the battle for Avdiivka. There is also talk of a commander suddenly disappearing.
Avdiivka – Ukraine's lack of artillery ammunition is becoming increasingly noticeable on the front: The industrial city of Avdiivka fell on February 17, 2024 – it was Kiev's biggest military defeat in around a year. Ukrainian troops had defended the site continuously for months, a brigade almost since the start of the Ukrainian war. Ukrainian soldiers told the Associated Press (AP) news agency that they were tired to the bone. In some brigades, rotation at the front was apparently not possible due to a lack of personnel.
The fall of Avdiivka in the Ukrainian war: skies full of glide bombs
The city in Donetsk Oblast was considered a symbol of resistance. Viktor Biliak, one of the infantrymen of the 110th Brigade, had been defending Avdiivka with his troops since March 2022. “We were not so much physically exhausted as mentally exhausted because we were chained to this place,” he explained in an interview with AP. His unit was initially stationed on the southern outskirts of Avdiivka. In mid-October, soldier Oleh from the 47th Brigade arrived in the city. At the beginning, the Russians were poorly prepared and were an easy target, the Ukrainian told AP. But at the end of November, it became clear that something had changed: the sky was filling with glide bombs.
Avdiivka fell because Russia had more ammunition and more soldiers. Added to this was air superiority: Moscow's troops fired hundreds of glide bombs from aircraft from a safe distance – around 70 kilometers behind the front. That comes from one Report by the US war experts at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).. “Within 24 hours there were 250 [der Gleitbomben]“Deployed in Avdiivka, Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yuri Ihnat confirmed to CNN in mid-March. Not only is the destructive power of the approximately 1.5 ton bombs many times greater than that of artillery ammunition, “the effect on the psyche is also greater,” explained soldier Oleh of the 47th Brigade AP.
In addition, Russia also deployed explosive drones with motion sensors near Avdiivka that could track people inside buildings, the AP report said. Meanwhile, Ukraine's ammunition continued to dwindle. The soldiers said the Russians fired eight or nine for every Ukrainian artillery shell. The information could not be independently verified. The problem was not only the preponderance of ammunition, but also the mix. “If you have different types of grenades, they have different trajectories, and you have to calculate […] where they will hit,” explained soldier Oleh. He described the situation to the AP as “chaos” and a “stew of grenades.”
Ukraine War: Commander disappeared without a trace shortly before the fall of Avdiivka
On February 8, the Ukrainian president changed military leadership, replacing Chief of General Staff Valery Zalushny with Oleksandr Syrsky. The next day, officers apparently had heated discussions at a command post not far from Avdiivka. A battalion commander responsible for hundreds of soldiers then got into a car with two soldiers and disappeared, AP reported. One of the two soldiers was later found dead. However, there is no trace of the commander and the second soldier. According to Ukrainian sources, the men did not carry any secret information with them.
In view of the constant pressure and the lack of help, they thought about withdrawing, reported soldier Oleh. In the second week of February, the 3rd Assault Brigade, considered an elite force, came to the rescue. Until the last minute, the new commander-in-chief of the army moved troops into the city to stop the Russians. On February 15, Oleh's brigade received orders to withdraw. “It would have been nice if it had happened earlier,” said the soldier. The 3rd Brigade received the order to withdraw a day later and on February 17, Moscow declared that it had taken Avdiivka. “In my opinion, the order to withdraw should have been given earlier,” said 20-year-old soldier Kawkaz Washington Post said. “Even five hours earlier would have made a difference.”
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