Avdiivka becomes a symbol of war. Russia is advancing with all its might. Ukraine stubbornly opposes this. And now new tanks are pouring in.

Avdiivka – Carlo Masala was wrong in his assumption. for now. Using Avdiivka as an example, the Hamburg political scientist Hamburger Ebenblatt Explains that Ukraine He insisted on letting Putin's forces bleed to death as much as possible. He says he expects a „tactical withdrawal” of Ukrainian defenders from the area approximately every hour. Masala said this some time ago. But the fighting continues there; The Russians also continue to fight relentlessly for the city, with little significance for the outcome Ukraine war Attributed – it represents a symbol of the mutual test of strength between them Vladimir Putin And the free world.

Newsweek Reports currently indicate that the Russians appear to be taking another breath in order to dislodge the city's defenders – finally: Brigadier General Oleksandr Tarnavsky recently said that the Russian Armed Forces are „increasingly adding tank groups to attack infantry groups” stationed around the city, the head of the Ukrainian Tavria unit that Avdiyevka is detained. It started in mid-October Russia Its offensive around Avdiivka has led to thousands of deaths on both sides, even before Ukraine's harsh winter arrives. In the months that followed, Moscow made slow but steady progress on industrial settlements there.

Disputed Avdiivka: Russian troops enter a field of rubble

Newsweek Local journalist Yuri Butusov is quoted as saying that the Russians are only a little more than a kilometer away from the outskirts of the city. Butusov reports about him cable-A canal from a destroyed city. Observers initially gave Ukraine good chances for defense, but optimism is quickly waning.

It appears that the Russians' original tactic was to dig tunnels, basements and sewers To surprise their defenders – This was the measure that began at the end of last year, as the spokesman for the 110th Separate Mechanized Brigade, Anton Kotsukun, told the Ukrainian news agency Unian: “They are digging tunnels closer to our positions, firstly for the purpose of camouflage and secondly, so that our appearance would be unexpected in a place Closer to our positions. Now it appears that Russia wants to impose a decision to use heavy vehicles, apparently by hook or by crook. Time is of the essence, as Russian forces have been roaming around the city for nearly five months.

The road to Avdiivka: paved with shipwrecks and dead soldiers

By driving these stakes into Ukrainian-controlled areas, the Russians appear to be trying to create small enclaves, small encircles, within the disputed Avdiivka region. Therefore, to avoid encirclement, Ukrainian forces may have to retreat gradually Backtrack from several positions and straighten their linesMost likely in the southern part of the destroyed city – this is how we analyze it ZDF current situation. The capture of Avdiivka would allow Moscow to significantly expand its logistical operations and restrict Ukraine's movement against Russian positions in the regional capital, Donetsk. This, in turn, would pave Russia's way to Kostyantinivka, a „very important fortress,” former Ukrainian colonel Serhiy Hrabsky told me. Newsweek.

Vehicle losses were a feature of the Russian offensive effort around Avdiivka from the beginning. Based on satellite image comparisons by data analysts from Front Intelligence Insight Between the start of its attack on the city on October 10 and the end of the year, Moscow lost more than 211 vehicles around Avdiivka alone. The British estimate is more comprehensive: the British Ministry of Defense assumes that Russia lost around 200 armored vehicles in the first three weeks of the Avdiivka offensive alone.

Russia's game with history: Avdiivka may become a second Grozny

“Fighting in built-up terrain is one of the most exhausting and challenging tasks for soldiers and especially their superiors in war,” said former German Army Major General Walter Spindler. Stuttgart News. Defenders would have the enormous advantages of knowing their city intimately, preparing it for defense and tailoring their plans in detail to local conditions. In contrast, the attackers were able to use tanks and vehicles only to a limited and ineffective extent. He explains that in the tactical regulations of Western armies, a superiority of 7:1 is required, and in Russian regulations even 9:1, in order to successfully occupy a city. The former infantry officer holds Deploy the tank Therefore, it is more of a tactical alternative born out of necessity – in his view, tanks are of no real use to infantrymen in urban warfare.

However, the infantrymen would first have to secure the tanks against enemy fire. Spindler: “Tank crews can only observe the battlefield from the tank through brick-sized armored glass, so-called corner mirrors. This greatly limits your view. In addition, tanks and armored personnel carriers can only fire at short distances.” It reaches about 150 meters instead of the actual 3,500 to 4,500 metres. Vehicles are vulnerable to attacks such as those using rocket-propelled grenades or Molotov cocktails delivered to Ukraine from Western countries. In addition, they have to sneak through the city anyway: the rubble is blocking Roads and spaces, especially when these barriers are also mined – for everyone danger lurks around the corner.

Vladimir Putin's army suffered a disaster with its tanks in a city several years ago. One recent tank battle in a city ended in disaster, says James Hughes, an Eastern European researcher at the think tank. Center for Eastern European and International Studies “In December 1994, a long column of Russian tanks rolled into the Chechen capital, Grozny, to put down a separatist nationalist uprising. Russia assumed that a mere display of military force would lead to the surrender of the rebels.

However, within a few hours, the entire column was annihilated by Chechen fighters. Russia lost about 200 armored vehicles, and about 1,000 Russian soldiers were killed or captured. The tank belongs to the battlefield. Cities are alien to him. “The current situation at Avdiivka is a microcosm of the failure of the Russian General Staff generally to absorb the lessons its forces have learned from previous failed offensive efforts in Ukraine and transfer them to other force groups throughout the region.” Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

The invasion of Avdiivka: a campaign that will consume a lot of people

Basically, the fight for Avdiivka requires one Tactical performance of military leadershipThis is something that the Russians have consistently missed until now. Lieutenant Colonel Andre Knabe, battalion commander of the German Air Force's Object Protection Regiment, said the importance of infantry is much more than the performance of tanks and artillery, as it is crucial to success in local and urban warfare. In addition, reconnaissance is of great importance – for example through drones. In principle, the attacking side always seeks to take advantage of the defenders. The sheer number of individuals or materials attacked increases the number of casualties, but does not lead to any immediate gains.

This makes taking a larger, more densely populated town „an almost impossible task,” Knabe said. The Russian armed forces had already tried to impose control over Kiev at the beginning of the war, but they did not succeed in the end. Their attack had already stopped on the outskirts of the Ukrainian capital. Bringing such a confusing area under your control is always an enormous task – no matter how different the cities are, says the presenter. “They need a lot of staff to do that.”