2023-10-21 16:33:00
If the recent Russian assault on the town of Avdiivka was “crushed”, the Ukrainian forces defending it are preparing for a new “massive attack” by Moscow on this industrial city, in eastern Ukraine.
“We have to expect it. We know that the Russians have amassed huge reserves, both in personnel and military equipment,” Major Maxim Morozov, commander of a special police unit in the city, told AFP. .
On the morning of October 10, waves of several dozen Russian tanks and armored vehicles advanced in columns to the south, north and northwest of the town, supported by artillery salvos, helicopter bombardments and of planes. Their goal: to surround Avdiïvka.
“It was a shock for everyone. There were up to 50 air strikes” on the city, continues Major Morozov, interviewed in Pokrovsk, about forty kilometers from Avdiivka.
Youriï Chtepa, 55, was in a trench northwest of the industrial city.
Long gray beard, wearing a Pakistani pakol, wearing yellow anti-splinter glasses, he recounts the enemy assault with ease and forceful gestures.
“We quickly knew that (Russian) military equipment was arriving. We could hear it 5-7 kilometers away,” said this leader of a fire support group of a Ukrainian territorial defense brigade.
Every 15 minutes
“Ours started to target them. The artillery works well in our direction, they (the Russians) did not succeed. But when there are 30 to 40 vehicles, it’s a little difficult,” continues the soldier, interviewed in a village in the region far from the front, where his unit is resting.
In the air, it was “a plane every 15 minutes or so and helicopters every 3 to 5 minutes,” he relates.
If the Russians were able to take a few square kilometers, photos and video images posted on social networks testified two days later to a dismal failure of their offensive.
It showed the destruction of a “minimum of 36 Russian armored vehicles,” notes the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
“The Russian armored forces did not apply the lessons learned” from previous failures such as at Vougledar – 50 km from Avdiïvka – last February, or around Kiev in March 2022, when the Ukrainians there also destroyed columns of tanks “which advanced in disorder”, adds the ISW.
Located on the front since 2014, Avdiïvka is 13 km north of Donetsk, the capital, under Moscow control, of the eponymous region whose annexation Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed a year ago.
Built around a huge coking plant, which employed up to 4,000 people, the town still has some 1,600 inhabitants, compared to 30,000 before the war.
In the center, the large blocks of buildings were partially or entirely destroyed by daily Russian artillery fire and, since March, by powerful aviation bombs.
The last inhabitants “live only in basements”, and “the delivery of humanitarian aid has been interrupted” temporarily since October 10, specifies Major Morozov.
“The stocks of food, water, medicines and hygiene items accumulated in the basements (…) will certainly be enough for a month” if necessary, he adds.
“Inexhaustible” Russian resource
The only access road to the city from the north remains “under our control. The Russians have not succeeded in conquering the heights”, says the police officer.
On their position located in a field, Iouriï Chtepa said they “dug trenches 2 meters high”.
“We put anti-drone nets. Because the Russians choose a position and launch everything (to attack): mortars, grenade launchers, kamikaze drones,” explains the man with the pakol.
The Russian soldiers “generally crawl in small groups, without bulletproof vests, without helmets, nothing. One with grenades, the other with a rifle. And a third, a little further back, covers them,” continues -he.
About to return to Avdiivka, police officer Morozov describes a “calmer” situation in recent days.
“There are only a few aerial bombardments, around four to six” per day, “tank and artillery strikes continue”, but “there are no more massive assaults, the enemy has a break,” he said.
For Anatoliï Mogyla, 53, deputy commander of Youriï Shtepa’s unit, “so far, (the Russians) have been crushed. But they have an inexhaustible human resource. I think they will certainly try” a new assault.
21/10/2023 16:32:37 – Near Avdiivka (Ukraine) (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
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