Day 648: Dec 03
Day six hundred forty-eight.
Today, there are a lot of updates from the Donetsk region.
Here, the most intense clashes took place on the northern flank of Avdiivka. The goal of the Russian forces was temporarily downgraded to a much less ambitious, and now Russians are not trying to encircle Avdiivka but rather improve their tactical position before making another attack on the chemical plant.
The Russian commanders realized that no matter how many soldiers they send to attack the chemical plant, these attacks will be futile as long as Ukrainians control a critical firing point that allows them to kill Russian reinforcements during the process of deployment to the contact line.
Last time, I told you that Russians adjusted their plan on the move and immediately attempted to assault the Ukrainian firing point from multiple sides. However, due to the lack of forces, the attacks failed, and the Russians lost more ground than they gained.
Over the last several days, Russian forces were regrouping in preparation for the second attempt to assault Ukrainian fortifications north of the chemical plant. Ukrainian fighters reported that Russians do not use any equipment to transport their personnel to the contact line due to the low survival rate of these vehicles. That is why their personnel carriers transport their soldiers, at best, to the outskirts of Krasnohorivka, from where they go by foot to their positions.
Ukrainian fighters also reported that Russians accumulate forces in all tree lines, not just those along the contact line. Recently released footage shows how Ukrainians strike Russian shelters located in the middle of the fields.
Ukrainians usually wait until a new batch arrives at the spot and then shell the region with cluster shells. This usually forces Russians to get out of their shelters to assist wounded personnel, which exposes even more troops to Ukrainian fire.
Even though clever artillery and drone strikes hinder the accumulation of Russian forces, they do not prevent it, so eventually, Russian forces launched an attack. This time, Russians were solely focused on the most problematic region and were determined to advance as deep as possible to secure their supply lines.
Ukrainians were prepared to face multiple distracting attacks along the line, but Russians decided to leave their flanks exposed to ensure that they managed to overwhelm Ukrainian forces. This approach worked, and Russians cleared the first section of the tree line. Ukrainian fighters were fighting back for so long that they ran out of ammunition faster than the Russians ran out of troops. When the remaining 2 soldiers on the position ran out of ammo, they decided to surrender.
Unfortunately, drone footage shows that once they surrendered, the Russians killed them. Ukrainian fighters from the 47th mechanized brigade recognized their fighters on the video and stated that they were going to storm them shortly and that they would not be taking captives. Shortly after that, Ukrainian Avdiivka Military Administration Head Vitaliy Barabash stated the counterattack was successful, and all Russian soldiers were liquidated.
While Ukrainians launched their counterattack south of Stepove, Russian forces decided to attack the settlement itself. Ukrainian fighters released a video showing how artillery crews coordinate with the reconnaissance drone operator and annihilate one Russian assault unit after another. The drone uses a thermal camera, so all the white dots that you see are Russian soldiers.
The footage actually shows the end of the fight, as Russians run away from Stepove back into the tree line in large numbers and without coordination. Unfortunately for Russians, very few of them survived. In the morning, Ukrainians sent a drone into the tree line to check on the situation and found loads and loads of Russian bodies lying in the tree line.
Overall, Russian attempts to improve their tactical position were unsuccessful. And even initially though Russian forces managed to breach the defensive position south of the village by overwhelming Ukrainians with manpower until Ukrainians ran out of bullets, the exhausted and degraded Russian units lost all positions to a first Ukrainian counterattack, while the Ukrainian defense in Stepove never allowed Russians to even get a foothold.
In our daily frontline report, we pair up with the military blogger Reporting from Ukraine to inform you about what is happening on the battlefield in the Russo-Ukrainian war.
