🇺🇦Ukraine is reinforcing Avdeevka. And there are good reasons to believe it’s bolstering the eastern city—current the locus of Russia’s winter offensive—with one of the best brigades in the Ukrainian army.

The 3rd Assault Brigade. The only Ukrainian ground-combat brigade that we know for sure was in reserve in eastern Ukraine as of last week.

Brig. Gen. Oleksandr Tarnavskyi, commander of the Tavriya group of forces in Avdeevka, announced the reinforcement on Telegram on Saturday. “We strengthen the blocking line, set up additional firing positions and use fresh effective forces,” Tarnavskyi wrote. “Logistical delivery continues.”

That the Ukrainians would reinforce Avdeevka was not a foregone conclusion. In apparently choosing to stay and fight, Ukrainian forces are accepting enormous risk.

After four months of hard fighting, Russian troops from the 2nd and 41st Combined Arms Armies finally breached Avdeevka—a key Ukrainian stronghold just five miles northwest of Russian-occupied Donetsk—earlier this month and approached within a few hundred yards of the main road by which the Ukrainian garrison, centered on the 110th Mechanized Brigade, gets supplies into the city.

At that point, Tarnavskyi had two options. Pull back the 110th Brigade’s survivors from the exposed eastern part of the city and consolidate the Ukrainian line in central Avdeevka or just outside the city, to the west.

Or: reinforce the 110th Brigade and try to push the much larger Russian force away from the garrison’s supply lines.

It’s possible it wasn’t Tarnavskyi’s decision to make.

Last week, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky removed his popular top general, the charismatic Valery Zaluzhny, and replaced him with the unpopular former head of the ground forces, Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi.

Zaluzhny has a reputation—deserved or not—for embracing a mobile defense in order to minimize Ukrainian casualties. Syrskyi by contrast has a reputation—again, deserved or not—for accepting high casualties in stubborn, static fights.

@Slavyangrad

The commander of the Ukrainian armed forces' Tavriya Tarnavskiy, on the decision of commander-in-chief Syrskiy, withdrew the 3rd Assault Brigade of the Ukrainian armed forces from the southern front and transferred it to Avdeevka. It is considered the best "Azov" brigade in the Ukrainian army.

These are the same mommy's "lions" from which Wagner made canned food in Bakhmut several times. Our Airborne troops did the same with them later. After which a little more than the remaining 20% of the 3rd assault of the AFU were sent to the rear for additional manning. Then they were reassembled in January at Zaporozhye and now Avdeevka.
Their commander Kukharchuk, after the last defeat of the brigade, said: I do not believe that we will win. I do not believe that we are fighting degenerates. We are all heirs of the Soviet Army. But the Russian one is bigger today.

Join Slavyangrad chat. Your opinion matters.
https://t.me/+U_EDAcaO-HFjNzEx

@Slavyangrad

A joint IDF, ISA (Intelligence Support Activity) and Israel Police operation in Rafah overnight rescued two Israeli hostages, Fernando Simon Marman, 60, and Louis Har, 70, who were kidnapped by Hamas from Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak on 7 October, the IDF said.

"Both are in good medical condition and were transferred to Sheba Tel Hashomer Hospital for medical examination," the IDF added.

Boost us! | Subscribe to @geopolitics_live

An AFU soldier with the call sign Mongol is afraid that if he tells the whole truth about the meat assaults in the Serebryansky forestry, he will become an enemy of the state:

“Minus 100 TRO (territorial defense) soldiers in one day, probably in captivity, killed, who knows... The young commander, who was holed up in the village all the time, said: “Go, if you don’t go, no one will replace you tomorrow!" We began to approach enemy positions and the first of those who walked received 2 bullets immediately in the chest... Of the 30 guys in the company, 11 remained. And there were many such orders, and if I talk about everything, I will again become an enemy of the state ".

by @MilitaryThemeZ

⚡️🇷🇺🇺🇦⚔️ Front #Summary for 12 Feb 2024 by 18:45⚡️

🔹In #Kherson Direction, positional fighting in #Krynki. The AFU managed to replenish the group, and those occupied several new houses to the west of the main springboard. Our army is sealing their positions with Grad. On the left bank, ours hit another AFU drone crews.

🔹In #Zaparozhye Direction, our forces moving to cover #Rabotino, improving the tactical position west and southwest of the village, as well as west of #Verbovoye. The artillery thundered all night, and in the morning our military again assaulted the AFU positions, and advanced a bit west of #Rabotino.

🔹In #Donetsk Direction, our military has about 200 m left to the APU supply route. A breakthrough is expected either at the Brevno Restaurant, which the AFU is diligently defending, or at the intersection of Industrial Avenue with Timiryazev Street, which is just west of the Carpool Depot. Our army made another breakthrough in the southern coverage. Here, our troops broke through from "Tsarskaya Okhota" for the railway tracks and partially took control of the Vinogradniki-2 village. This significantly worsens the AFU situation in the Zenit fortified area.
📌There are many reports that Syrsky, wishing to quench Zelensky's desire to hold #Avdeevka, transferred from the southern front one of the best, the 3rd Assault Brigade. They are still standing near #Avdeevka, but will surely be brought into the battle. The backbone of the brigade is the "Azovs", motivated and better staffed than the bulk of the stormtroopers. The ones who were beaten by Wagner and then by our Airborne Troops in #Bakhmut, which defence was also led by Syrsky. In addition to the Azovites, militants from several national battalions have arrived in the city, to fight to the last. Moreover, the #Donetsk people from the former #DPR PM, are fighting on our side, and they have their own scores to settle with Azov. However, ours say from the ground that the AFU are learning from their mistakes. Now they are setting up firing positions on the upper floors of high rise buildings, creating warehouses, field hospitals and even ambushes in basements. It seems that it is in urban areas the fiercest battles will unfold. The enemy can leave the Coke Plant as soon as ours get close to blocking the plant.

🔹In #Bakhmut Direction, our forces are entrenched in the forest area west of #Khromovo, preparing to move on. Powerful work of Solntsepeks on the AFU positions in the forests closer to Chasov Yar is noted. East of #Kleshcheevka, our advance was about 300m along the railway line.

🔹In #Svatovo Direction, at the #Seversk front, our forces are trying to approach the #Belogorovka village, the most active movement is to the south, from the side of the chalk quarry. West of the Belogorovka Filtration Station, the AFU are annoying our troops by dropping ammo from copters. There is less than 500m left to #Belogorovka. In the #Liman sector, after a forced retreat from positions along Yar Laptev, to the north ours also retreated from the outskirts of the Yar Nizhny. In the #Kupyansk sector, on the western outskirts of #Sinkovka, ours have cleared another stronghold, hard work is underway. At #Kislovka in the direction of #Petropavlovka, with heavy fighting, ours advanced about another 500m.

🎯 Our Aerospace Forces, during the night, hit a large railway junction in #Kharkov region, a military unit in #Nikolayev, where a large amount of military equipment was being transferred. There were two explosions in Pavlograd. According to locals, the missiles hit trains of AFU military equipment and reserves travelling along the railway line to reinforce the #Avdeyevka garrison.

t.me/sitreports /@olegtsarov/#smo/
Join SITREP🔺Map Reports - Top Videos - Analyses