Ukrainian forces conducted successful local counterattacks to retake parts of Stepove village, near Avdiivka, and deny Russia full control, the UK Defense Ministry reported.
After Russia renewed its assault on Avdiivka in October 2023, the Donetsk Oblast town of Avdiivka has seen the most intense fighting. The UK Ministry said Avdiivka continues to be the scene of the most intense combat on the front, accounting for “on some days approaching 40 per cent of all combat engagements.
The UK Defense Ministry reports that “Ukrainian units have likely conducted successful local counterattacks, denying Russian forces full control of the village of Stepove.” The village sits adjacent to Avdiivka and its “heavily defended industrial zone,” which Russia aims to surround.
According to the British analysis, the Russian offensives have continued to be characterised by largely dismounted infantry assaults, often by Shtorm-Z penal units.
According to the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces as of the morning of 11 December, Ukraine’s defense forces repelled 49 enemy attacks in the Avdiivka direction.
Over the last day, Ukraine’s defense forces engaged in combat with the Russian occupying military 98 times. In total, the Russian army launched 3 missiles and 61 air strikes and fired 67 times from multiple launch rocket systems at the positions of Ukrainian troops and localities.
In its recent report, the British Defense Ministry intel said that Russian military casualties over the last six weeks in its offensive operations against the Avdiivka “have likely seen some of the highest Russian casualty rates of the war so far.”
Read also:
- Russia attacks Kyiv with ballistic missiles, injuring 4 people
- Commander: Russia does not stop assaults along the entire frontline in east
- ISW: Russian offensives intensify ahead of Russia’s 2024 elections as Ukraine fortifies defenses
