UK intel says Russian military under political pressure to attack Avdiivka
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Heavy but inconclusive fighting has continued over the last week as Russian invasion forces attempt to advance on Avdiivka in Donetsk Oblast, the on Oct. 28 intelligence report on Ukraine from the UK Ministry of Defense reads.
The nature of the Russian offensive indicates that the main military-political challenge remains the same as it has been for most of the war: political leaders demand the seizure of more territory, but the military cannot carry out effective operational-level offensives.
According to the report, Russia could have deployed up to eight brigades to this sector, which suffered the highest losses among the Russian units in 2023.
The Russian "milbloggers" have sharply criticized Russian tactics in the offensive on Avdiivka.
Earlier, Ukraine's Defense Minister Rustem Umerov told U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin that Russian forces’ losses near Avdiivka reached 4,000 soldiers.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak that Russian troops have lost at least a brigade trying to surround Avdiivka.
Russia’s offensive on Avdiivka – What is known
Russian troops intensified their offensive on Avdiivka on Oct. 10, launching massive attacks on the Donbas town.
The head of Avdiiivka’s military administration, Vitaliy Barabash, said that Oct. 10 saw “probably the largest attack on the city in the entire full-scale war,” but the situation was under control.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces said that the Russian military wants to surround Avdiivka, and is throwing a large amount of equipment and personnel into battle.
The representative of the Joint Press Center of the Tavria Defense Forces, Oleksandr Shtupun, said that the Russian occupation forces are continuing active offensive actions in the area of Avdiivka and consider the town as an opportunity to gain at least some kind of a significant “triumph” and turn the tide of hostilities.
On Oct. 16, Barabash noted that the Russian occupation forces had stopped shelling Avdiivka, but two people had been killed in shelling west of the town.
On the same day, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces reported in an evening summary that in the Avdiivka sector, Russians conducted unsuccessful assaults with the support of aviation in the vicinity of Avdiivka and Pervomaiske, Donetsk Oblast, but the Defense Forces had managed to repel seven Russian attacks.
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