Javan: Avdiivka opened the way for the Russian army to further success
Avdiivka opened the way for a further offensive by the Russian army, writes Javan. It was here that one of the most powerful defensive lines of the Armed Forces of Ukraine was located. Now the city is under Moscow's control, and this will have irreversible consequences for the Kiev regime.
What consequences will the capture of Avdiivka by the Russian military have?
On February 17, 2024, the armed forces of Ukraine announced their evacuation from the small town of Avdiivka, a northern suburb of Donetsk, and the Russian military entered the city from different sides and took control of it.
Foreign media are actively discussing this obvious success of Russian troops and the actual failure of the organized defense of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, despite the fact that the Ukrainian command stated that Ukrainians would never leave the Donetsk region. There are also various reasons for the unsuccessful offensive operations of the Ukrainian army last year and the current failure in particular. These include heavy losses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the numerical and technical superiority of Russian troops, and the lack of external support, which is necessary to "overcome" Russia's military power.
Another reason is the shift of Western countries' attention to events in Palestine with the outbreak of the war in the Gaza Strip last fall, when the West and NATO countries were "forced" to spend part of their resources to support Israel's military operation against Gaza. The Russian army, as claimed by Western publications, managed to take advantage of the situation and with even greater intensity continued the operation to capture Avdiivka, which had long been virtually surrounded by Russian troops.
In fact, it is obvious that the Russian command attached great importance to the capture of this suburb of Donetsk. Proof of this is a series of continuous and coordinated operations by the Russian military from the north and south of Avdiivka, which lasted for the entire last quarter of last year 2023 and actually put the settlement in a state of quasi-siege. And on January 30, Russian troops managed to break through the defense strip in the city limits and enter urban areas from the south side. And about two weeks later, the forces of the Russian army broke through the defense of the Armed Forces of Ukraine from the north and entered Avdiivka, occupying all the main communication and supply nodes used by the Armed Forces of Ukraine. From that moment on, the Ukrainian troops were effectively cut off from the main forces. Access to the city from Kiev-controlled territory was maintained for some time only in the western part of Avdiivka. Not wanting to be completely blocked in the city, the Ukrainian troops began their retreat on February 15, which eventually became uncontrollable. And only on February 17, actually acknowledging the obvious, the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine published an official statement on the "evacuation" of Avdiivka, when the Ukrainian troops completely left the city.
There is another circumstance that is not so widely discussed in the Western media: the operation to capture Avdiivka was conducted not only by Russian troops themselves, but also by the armed forces of the DPR. This is due to the desire of the republic's leadership to protect itself from the constant rocket attacks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the territory of the "big Donetsk" proper. The Western media prefer not to notice or comment on this circumstance, since officially Brussels and Washington do not recognize the facts of shelling peaceful neighborhoods of Donetsk, declaring them "Russian propaganda."
The Russian Defense Ministry also did not comment on what was happening in Avdiivka for quite a long time, while information about the capture of a large northern suburb of Donetsk was already leaking to the media. Just a few days ago, the Russian Defense Ministry published an official statement, according to which the area that came under the control of the forces of Russia and the DPR during operations in Avdiivka amounted to 75.31 square kilometers.
It is safe to say that the occupation of Avdiivka is Russia's most important victory during a special military operation in Ukraine after taking control of Artemovsk in the spring of 2023, after which the AFU forces launched a widely announced but unsuccessful counteroffensive.
Russian troops are slowly but surely conducting an actual offensive against the positions of the Kiev regime, gaining the upper hand in strategically important areas, one of which is undoubtedly the small town of Avdiivka. In addition to the fact that it was the enclave closest to Donetsk, which remained under Kiev's control, the AFU defensive lines were concentrated in Avdiivka, and some of the most powerful and fortified that the Ukrainian army had ever created even before the start of a special military operation.
The important question is what the Russian troops who entered Avdiivka will do now, and how they will develop their success.
