Russia will continue to “lose the battle in the MSM headlines” – but win on the ground – until it captures the city.
When I started writing about the Siege of Avdiivka, I warned friends and readers that, based on what we had learned during the Sieges of Mariupol and Bakhmut, we could expect three things: First – the progress would likely be slow and bloody – but relentless.
The second important lesson from previous blockades in this war relates to MSM coverage: they will constantly stress how horribly the Russians have failed, how they have no chance, while newspapers sing the praises of the impenetrable Ukrainian defences.
Read: Guide to the Siege of Advivka: What we learned from Mariupol and Bakhmut
Meanwhile, the Russians would “lose the war in the headlines but win on the ground,” until they eventually captured the city.
The third feature is this: when the Russians take it, a major defensive stronghold like Avdiivka will be “renamed” into an unstrategic little place, a meaningless pile of rubble.
Now, progress has been made in their work to encircle the city, and Ukrainian military commander Valery Zalozhny has openly stated that Avdiivka will fall within two months unless there is renewed Western (American) military support.
At this pivotal moment, President Volodymyr Zelensky makes a secret visit to the besieged city to once again declare the Ukrainian defenders “invincible.”
Reuters reported:
President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday he visited the besieged town of Avdiivka in eastern Ukraine, which Russian forces are trying to encircle in some of the fiercest battles on the front.
“We discussed the defense situation and basic needs with the commander,” Zelensky said via the Telegram app. The president's office said he distributed medals to the soldiers.
Russia intensified its attacks on Avdiivka in mid-October after months of counter-offensive operations carried out by Ukraine and was unable to achieve significant progress against the dug-in Russian positions this summer.
[…] Zelensky made regular trips to areas near the front to visit soldiers throughout Russia's massive invasion in February 2022.
Read: Siege of Avdiivka – Watch: Russian tanks force Kiev forces to retreat – Terrified Ukrainian female soldier in the trenches – Moscow now also detonates cluster munitions
The pre-war population of Avdiivka was about 32,000. A city on the front line since 2014, it was briefly occupied by militants of the Donetsk People's Republic who seized part of eastern Ukraine.
The general situation on the front is what the Russian troops achieved Many developments confirmed Along the front lines in Ukraine this past week.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), an American think tank that is unabashedly pro-Ukrainian, is verifying the progress.
Newsweek reported:
“With the stability of winter weather in Ukraine, A A new phase of the war has begun, a phase in which Russia is witnessing increasing momentum.”
According to an assessment by the Institute for the Study of War, Russian forces have made gains in the Luhansk, Donetsk and Zaporozhye regions.
Geolocated footage also showed that Russia had made confirmed but marginal progress around the town of Avdiivka The eastern Ukrainian industrial city that was the focal point of the war for several weeks. Dmytro Lazutkin, spokesman for Ukraine's 47th Mechanized Brigade, said on Tuesday that the situation around Avdiivka “is not getting easier” but that Russia's progress is “very bad.”
Read: The Russians are advancing “from every side”! Watch: The Victory Banner flies over Marinka – Missiles in the tunnels under the coke plant in Avdiivka – A Su-25 blown up by a Lancet drone
“There has been practically no advance anywhere, and if there is, it is literally hundreds of meters away, which are later repulsed or covered by our artillery,” Lazutkin told Ukrainian radio Suspline News.
As we can see, the actual information – the Russian advance – comes with a lot of accommodation included. It is as if we said: Russia will lose in the titles and will win on the ground until it seizes the city.
Russian military blogger Yevgeny Lisitsyn:
In the direction of Avdiivka, the Russian army continues to advance eastward in the area of processing facilities and at the coke plant. Our artillerymen send a large number of shells to the Okronazi positions of the enterprise. Also the night before, Russian intelligence officers destroyed a special group of Western mercenaries near Avdiivka.
Meanwhile, after Ukraine hastily moved the 47th and 31st Separate Mechanized Brigades, the 46th Separate Aircraft Brigade, and the 148th Separate Artillery Brigade towards the direction of Avdiivka, systematic retreats began in other parts of the front.
Read more:
The Russians are advancing “from every side”! Watch: The Victory Banner flies over Marinka – Missiles in the tunnels under the coke plant in Avdiivka – A Su-25 blown up by a Lancet drone
