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The Ukrainian defense in Avdiivka is rapidly collapsing. Every day, the Ukrainian grouping is losing more and more strategic strongholds in the city.
On the southern flank of Avdiivka, Russian assault groups successively took control of three strategically important strongholds of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU).
On February 15, the Russians flag waved over the Zenith stronghold, on the territory of the former A-1428 air defense unit, southeast of Avdiivka. The 1st Slavic Brigade of the Russian Armed Forces finished the mop up operation in the area. LINK
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Russian military sources shared details of the operation that forced the remaining Ukrainian forces to flee the battlefield under cover of night. According to Russian military reports, the Ukrainian command has not sent forces to evacuate the destroyed units from the Zenith stronghold.
Ukrainian groups that tried to escape to Avdiivka were destroyed by Russian fire. The rest tried to leave Zenith by detours into the fields. For example, on the night of February 14, ten Ukrainian servicemen attempted to come out of the Zenith, but they came under heavy Russian artillery fire. As a result, the attempt to escape failed and only three wounded Ukrainian soldiers returned to the ruins of the stronghold.
After Russian forces took control of the Ukrainian Zenith, the Ukrainian military continued to retreat, abandoning their wounded comrades. On the morning of February 16, Ukrainian sources confirmed Russian control of the so-called Cheburashka stronghold, which was fortified at the crossroad on the Donetsk Ring Road nearby.
Drones trikes in the area:
Following Cheburashka, the Ukrainian military left positions in the Vinogradniki area. These are several streets with dachas, located south of the railway on the southern outskirts of Avdiivka. After the Russian breakthrough from the Tsarskaya Okhota to the southern streets of the city at the end of January, the fighting for the fortified area in Vinogradniki did not stop. There is one of the dirt roads that the AFU used to supply groups in the city and in the Zenith area. Now, it is under full Russian control.
Control of the Vinogradniki area allowed Russian forces to straighten the front on the southern flank of Avdiivka. This, among other things, facilitates the shelling of the 9th microdistrict called Khimik, where Ukrainian forces are retreating from the city to hold the defense and turned it into another fortress.
Meanwhile, the withdrawal of the AFU from the Donetsk Filtration Station on the northeastern outskirts of the city, where there was prolonged fighting, was confirmed. Ukrainian forces are forced to retreat into the forest on the outskirts of the city, but they will not be able to hold the defense there due to the risk of encirclement, while the Russians are advancing along the streets of the city from the north.
Russian servicemen of the 1st Army Corps from the Pyatnashka international brigade set up flags at the Donetsk filtration station:
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The Russian assault on the northern flank of Avdiivka does not stop. The Russians are in full control of the carpool and most of the Industrial Avenue. Their assault groups already launch attacks on the outskirts of the Khimik microdistrict from the western direction. The Russians continue to advance along Shestakov Street and in the north along the streets near the Blue Lakes.
Ukrainian units are losing ground on the outskirts of the Coke plant. According to preliminary reports, Russian forces took control of the fire station No. 13, developing their offensive in the area of the metalwork plant.
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The Coke plant itself is under constant fire by Russian artillery and aircraft, including with dozens of heavy aerial bombs. The AFU equipped a fuel depot on the territory of the facility, which was used to refuel armored vehicles. Russian forces identified the exact coordinates of the depot and destroyed it with strikes. The smoke from the burning of petroleum products covered the entire city, complicating the position the units remaining on the territory of the plant. Several groups of Ukrainian military tried to get out of the facility at night under the cover of black smoke, but the escape operation failed. Having lost their way, many Ukrainian soldiers stumbled upon their own minefields, where they were also covered by a Russian artillery fire.
The AFU abandon their positions and escape from the city towards Lastochkino:
Having taken control of the entrance to the city, the Russians continue to expand the zone of their control along the only highway, already advancing outside the city towards Lastochkino and to the south. Given the pace of Russian advance, they will reach the last dirt road running from Lastochkino to the Khimik microdistrict soon.
There are only about 3 kilometers left between the Russian positions in the fields in the north and south of Avdiivka. This is the distance that remains before the complete encirclement of Avdiivka and the creation of a cauldron for the Ukrainian grouping there.
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Captured Ukrainian servicemen:
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On the morning of February 16, the command of the AFU was proposed to surrender and avoid losses of military personnel. In its turn, the Russian military proposed a safe corridor for evacuation to the Russian rear and guarantees of the preservation of lives of Ukrainian servicemen. Over the past day alone, about 50 Ukrainian servicemen volunteerly came to Russian positions. All of them were frostbitten. Unfortunately, the Ukrainian command does not accept Russian proposal, that’s why Ukrainian servicemen are forced to illegally abandon military positions to surrender.
Hiding their retreat, the Ukrainian military command does not acknowledge the withdrawal from Avdiivka but explains it with some military manoeuvres. In fact, at least three full Ukrainian brigades were ordered to withdraw from Avdiivka along three “logistics corridors” to rear positions prepared in advance. The notorious 3rd Assault Brigade of the AFU, which consists of the fighters of the destroyed Azov battalion, entered the battle for Avdiivka only about a week ago, but the unit has already lost more than a half of the military personnel and is retreating from the city “due to the lack of positions and logistical routes prepared for defense.”
