As of: March 13, 2024, 8:13 p.m
By: Bettina Menzel
Comments
Press
Split
Russian soldiers from an artillery brigade fire at Ukrainian forces in the Avdiivka sector (picture from March 8, 2024).
© IMAGO/Stanislav Krasilnikov/SNA
Too little ammunition, retreat too late: This is what Ukrainian soldiers report about the battle for Avdiivka.
There is also talk of a commander suddenly disappearing.
Avdiivka - Ukraine's lack of artillery ammunition is becoming increasingly noticeable on the front: The industrial city of Avdiivka fell on February 17, 2024 - it was Kiev's biggest military defeat in around a year.
Ukrainian troops had defended the site continuously for months, a brigade almost since the start of the Ukrainian war.
Ukrainian soldiers told the Associated Press (AP) news agency that they were tired to the bone.
In some brigades, rotation at the front was apparently not possible due to a lack of personnel.
The fall of Avdiivka in the Ukrainian war: skies full of glide bombs
The city in Donetsk Oblast was considered a symbol of resistance.
Viktor Biliak, one of the infantrymen of the 110th Brigade, had been defending Avdiivka with his troops since March 2022. “We were not so much physically exhausted as mentally exhausted because we were chained to this place,” he explained in an interview with AP.
His unit was initially stationed on the southern outskirts of Avdiivka.
In mid-October, soldier Oleh from the 47th Brigade arrived in the city.
At the beginning, the Russians were poorly prepared and were an easy target, the Ukrainian told AP.
But at the end of November, it became clear that something had changed: the sky was filling with glide bombs.
Avdiivka fell because Russia had more ammunition and more soldiers.
Added to this was air superiority: Moscow's troops fired hundreds of glide bombs from aircraft from a safe distance - around 70 kilometers behind the front.
This emerges from a report by US war experts at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
“Within 24 hours, 250 [of the glide bombs]” were used in Avdiivka, Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yuri Ihnat confirmed to CNN in mid-March.
Not only is the destructive power of the approximately 1.5 ton bombs many times greater than that of artillery ammunition, “the effect on the psyche is also greater,” explained soldier Oleh of the 47th Brigade AP.
In addition, Russia also deployed explosive drones with motion sensors near Avdiivka that could track people inside buildings, the AP report said.
Meanwhile, Ukraine's ammunition continued to dwindle.
The soldiers said the Russians fired eight or nine for every Ukrainian artillery shell.
The information could not be independently verified.
The problem was not only the preponderance of ammunition, but also the mix.
“If you have different types of grenades, they have different trajectories, and you have to calculate [...] where they will hit,” explained soldier Oleh.
He described the situation to the AP as “chaos” and a “stew of grenades.”
Ukraine War: Commander disappeared without a trace shortly before the fall of Avdiivka
On February 8, the Ukrainian president changed military leadership, replacing Chief of General Staff Valery Zalushny with Oleksandr Syrsky.
The next day, officers apparently had heated discussions at a command post not far from Avdiivka.
A battalion commander responsible for hundreds of soldiers then got into a car with two soldiers and disappeared, AP reported.
One of the two soldiers was later found dead.
However, there is no trace of the commander and the second soldier.
According to Ukrainian sources, the men did not carry any secret information with them.
My news
The “challenger” is fighting with itself: British challengers are sinking into reading dirt
1 hour ago
Footage shows rocket dismantling Russia's "floating command center."
Ukraine armada unnerves Russia blogger: read drone number “unimaginably large”.
Ukraine wants to test “dragon fire” against Russia – “can revolutionize battlefield” read
Putin propagandist wants to destroy four German counterparts for Crimean bridge
Alarm over the Baltic Sea because of Russia: Sweden experiences NATO premiere - and problems with ceremonial reading
In view of the constant pressure and the lack of help, they thought about withdrawing, reported soldier Oleh.
In the second week of February, the 3rd Assault Brigade, considered an elite force, came to the rescue.
Until the last minute, the new commander-in-chief of the army moved troops into the city to stop the Russians.
On February 15, Oleh's brigade received orders to withdraw.
“It would have been nice if it had happened sooner,” said the soldier.
The 3rd Brigade received the order to withdraw a day later and on February 17, Moscow declared that it had taken Avdiivka.
“In my opinion, the order to withdraw should have been given earlier,” 20-year-old soldier Kawkaz previously told the
Washington Post
.
“Even five hours earlier would have made a difference.”