Russia divided its attacks and coordinated efforts to destroy Ukraine's defense lines 0
(Dan Tri) – Russia is launching a simultaneous attack campaign from many directions to put pressure on the Ukrainian defense line.
Russian forces in Avdiivka, Ukraine (Photo: Sputnik).
`Russia is carrying out a mounted multi-axis offensive campaign along the northern sector of the current front line in Eastern Ukraine, in pursuit of almost the first important combat objective in more than a year and a half in Ukraine`
According to ISW, Russia has been pressuring Ukraine’s defenses near the border of the Kharkiv and Lugansk regions for weeks.
Russia has also made some progress around the Robotyne site in Zaporizhia.
ISW said Russia’s efforts around the Kharkov and Lugansk regions include `attacks along four parallel axes,` which could potentially give Russia an advance.
Avdiivka location (Photo: BBC).
New maps released by ISW show simultaneous Russian attacks toward Kupiansk from the northeast and southeast, as well as an attempt to advance northwest from positions south of Svatove, a city in
The map shows that Russian troops are also making efforts to advance northwest and southwest of Kreminna, including toward the Lyman region.
The Russian Ministry of Defense said on February 22 that the western group of forces attacked Ukrainian forces around Petropavlivka, a village located just west of the city of Kupiansk.
Russia on February 17 announced complete control of Avdiivka after months of fierce fighting, while Ukraine withdrew its troops from this city to preserve its forces.
The Russian Ministry of Defense said on February 23 that Russian forces had advanced further west after taking control of Avdiivka.
`After taking control of Avdiivka, units of the `Center` group of Russian forces continued to advance west. With the coordination of air force and artillery, they defeated the area where manpower and equipment were concentrated.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, Russian forces also destroyed a number of Ukrainian weapons supplied to Kiev by the West in the past week, including seven Storm Shadow cruise missiles donated by the UK, a rocket and vehicle.
Controlling Avdiivka can be considered Russia’s biggest step since last May after capturing Bakhmut.
Pokrovsk, which had a pre-conflict population of about 60,000, is located at the intersection of several rail and road lines, making it an important logistics hub for Ukraine.
The Russian Ministry of Defense stated that after taking control of Avdiivka, Russian forces will continue to attack in order to `continue to further control the (self-proclaimed) Donetsk People’s Republic from Ukrainian nationalists`.
The Russian Ministry of Defense emphasized that Russia’s control of Avdiivka helps push the front line away from the Donetsk area, thereby significantly protecting this area from Kiev’s attacks.
