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The Ukrainian fortress of Avdiivka officially fell on the night of February 17, when the Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Syrsky announced the withdrawal of troops to “new prepared defense lines.” In fact, the uncontrolled mass escape of Ukrainian units from the city began a few days earlier, during which the Ukrainian army suffered heavy losses. The Ukrainian military abandoned the wounded, dead and equipment. Hundreds of Ukrainian servicemen were captured by the Russian military.
Ukrainian and Russian military experts largely blamed the notorious 3rd Separate Assault Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine for the failure of the Ukrainian defense. The unit was urgently transferred to the city to stop its encirclement several days before the Ukrainian defeat.
The 3rd Separate Assault Brigade was created on the ruins of the neo-Nazi Azov battalion and mainly included its veterans. These militants distinguished themselves by their particular cruelty and extremely high level of motivation to fight against the Russians, which were proved both during the assault on Mariupol and later in Artemovsk. After the surrender of Azov in Azovstal, and in the course of other battles, many of its members ended up in Russian captivity and most have already been locked up in Russian prisons for numerous war crimes, mainly against civilians.
The glory of the unit and the exchange of its leaders through the Turkish mediation allowed to form the 3rd Assault Assault Brigade, which reunited the ardent Nazis. Since December last year, the unit has been staying in the rear areas in Kramatorsk. The brigade inherited its own system of recruiting and training from the Azov Nazi Battalion, which made it one of the most effective and combat-ready formations of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. For months, its military personnel were engaged in training, recruiting of new fighters and reportedly re-equipping with Bradley infantry fighting vehicles and other Western equipment.
Kiev assessed this unit as one of the most trained for the battles in Avdeevka, with the most relevant experience in conducting combat operations in similar urban conditions, given its experience in Mariupol and Artemovsk; but the glory of Azov was destroyed in Avdeevka.
On February 13, CNN became the first to report about the transfer of the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade to Avdeevka. The deployment itself likely took place the day before. On February 15, official sources of the Brigade confirmed its deployment in Avdeevka.
The first obituaries outrun the official claims. Entering the battle right off the bat, the brigade suffered heavy losses. One of the heavy losses for the unit was the death of the captain of the unit, the famous Ukrainian “hero” and ardent Nazi Andrei Iskra, on February 14. Battle-hardened, he lasted only two days in Avdeevka.
Immediately after the transfer to the cauldron, the military personnel of the Brigade, including its commanders, complained about the critical situation of the Ukrainian garrison. They stated that “the fighting in Avdiivka is heavier than in the encircled Bakhmut.” The crying of a well-known unit was heard by the Ukrainian public and foreign MSM, who abruptly changed their messages about the situation in the city from positive to sharply negative, and Ukrainians began to massively demand the withdrawal of Ukrainian soldiers on the social networks. Unfortunately, the Ukrainian command did not care much about their complaints.
As the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade officially stated, its main task was to strengthen the Ukrainian troops in Avdoovka. In fact, the transfer of the unit had two main tactical tasks. The first task was to stop the breakthrough of Russian stormtroopers in the city center. In order to perform this task, part of the Brigade engaged in battle with the advancing Russian forces in the area of the local railway station. Together with the former fighters of the Azov Battalion, the defense of the railway station was held by foreign “mercenaries”, including regular military personnel from Canada, who were transferred to the “elite” unit of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
It was there that the commander of the company of the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade was captured. Russian soldiers found him hiding in a bunker at the railway station. He chose to save his life and surrendered.
The second task for reinforcements from the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade was to prevent Russian forces from the encirclement of the city, shackling them in battles on the outskirts. Elite fighters had to become a shield against the Russian pincer around Avdeevka, which should ensure the safe exit of the entire Ukrainian garrison from the destroyed city in order to preserve the combat capability of Ukrainian units for further battles.
But the former Azov militants did not cope with any of the tasks set. A few days before the official recognition of the Ukrainian defeat, Russian units managed to break through the Ukrainian defenses on both the southern and northern outskirts, forcing the Ukrainian garrison to flee from their positions in the city in an attempt to avoid complete encirclement.
Already on February 16, instead of deterring the Russian offensive, the soldiers of the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade filmed videos in the basement of the Coke Plant, where the remnants of the “elite” brigade who survived the urban battles hid.
The Brigade complained that about 60 Russian aerial bombs fell on them per day, they were constantly shelled with artillery and MLRS, and they were continuously stormed.
“Does it remind you of anything?” the press service of the unit asked its audience online, recalling the siege of Azovstal in Mariupol.
Finally, the siege of the Coke Plant did not happen. Immediately after the announcement of the defeat in Avdeevka on February 17, the Brigade fled from this fortified area under Russian fire.
Not everyone managed to escape. During the mop up operation of the territory of the plant, part of the Brigade was captured by the Russian army. According to reports, some of the Ukrainian Nazis were captured for the second time. They already were in Russian captivity, including after the fighting for Mariupol.
The Russian side is likely to soon share the footage of the interrogations of unlucky Nazis from the former Azov.
And so was ruined the glory of one of the most ardent units of the Ukrainian Nazis, Azov Battalion, which, despite all the transformations, failed to defeat the Russian army.
