The situation in Avdeevka is becoming “critical” in the words of the pro-Ukrainian newspaper STRANA. The Russian breakthrough was also confirmed by the pro-Ukrainian mapping service Deep State, this past weekend. According to STRANA, “Russians have advanced into the industrial zone, there is street-fighting going on, and the situation has become critical.”
The news (good news for Russia, bad news for Ukraine) has also been confirmed by pro-Ukrainian journalist Yury Butusov, who edits the online newspapaer Tsensor (Censor).
According to Butusov, Russian units broke through from the northern edge of the city and have fortified themselves in one of the streets in that neighborhood: ”If you measure the distance in a straight line, then the forward units of the enemy are situated just one and a half kilometers from the [northern] city limit. Two weeks ago, they were able to penetrate two streets into the southern part of the city.” In other words, the Russian army has formed a pincer around the city, from both north and south directions.
Butusov worries that the Ukrainian forces are simply exhausted. They are also short on ammo, and the units are not working together in a smooth and coordinated manner. As if they don’t have enough problems, they are also finding that the Russians are hunting down their drone operators: ”Any places where drone bases and antennae are seen, are immediately subjected to artillery strikes and bombarded by guided avia-bombs.
“Another major problem is the tendency of the junior officers to lie to their superiors, all the way up to the level of General. The desire is to console oneself and not irritate one’s superiors with bad news. The higher leadership, in turn, only wants to hear positive news, and is deaf to any critical information. This is why they are not reacting appropriately to the change in circumstances happening on the ground.”
[Butusov’s full tweet, written in Ukrainian, is embedded in the piece.]
