Frontline report: Ukrainians disrupt Russian offensive north of Avdiivka, exploiting logistical weaknesses

Day 639: November 24

Today, there are a lot of updates from the direction of Avdiivka.

And here, earlier this week, the Ukrainians conducted an important operation to undermine the entire Russian offensive operation. This counterattack took place in a somewhat unexpected area, because it was carried out about 20 kilometers north of Avdiivka.

At first glance, these two sections of the front line appear to be unconnected; However, the stability of the front line around Horlivka is far more important for the Russian offensive than anything else.

The reason why Horlivka plays such a crucial role in the Russian offensive operation is simple – Horlivka is the main logistical center in the region. True, there is also Donetsk; However, the Russians use Donetsk to supply the southern side of Avdiivka, while the northern side of Avdiivka relies almost exclusively on Horlivka.

Considering that the most intense clashes were taking place on the northern side, it is difficult to overestimate the importance of Horlivka. For this reason, when the Russians were carrying out large-scale suicide attacks in an attempt to break through to the northern flank at the beginning of the offensive, local residents in Horlivka reported a crisis in the city, as hundreds of vehicles were transporting wounded Russian soldiers. Hospitals were full, and the Russians were forced to launch advertisements to attract surgeons on a regular basis. Urgent to Horlivka.

Moreover, as Ukrainian intelligence reported, the Russian forces have allocated forty thousand soldiers as reserves for the offensive operation, and it is clearly impossible for them to be present in small villages close to the front, so a large part of the Russian reserves are stationed. In Horlivka. This is very important because the Ukrainians decided to use it against the Russians.

The Ukrainians developed a two-step plan. First of all, the Ukrainians needed to break the connection between Horlivka and the front.

Second, the Ukrainians needed to force the Russians to urgently deploy these reserves to fight on the other side of the front line.

The first part of the plan was implemented very quickly because a Ukrainian sabotage group managed to reach behind enemy lines and blow up the most important bridge in the region.

Without this bridge, the Russians had only two options: they could either take more dangerous routes close to the line of communication, or they could make a major detour and enter the area from the Donetsk side. Using roads to Donetsk did not make sense because the main purpose of using Horlivka as a logistics center was its proximity to the north, so the Russians took short but risky routes.

Unfortunately for the Russians, even the Horlivka-Donetsk highway was under the fire control of Ukrainian drones, as can be seen from numerous videos, so when logistical routes approached, Russian equipment losses rose dramatically.

As you remember, Ukrainian fighters from Avdiivka said that thanks to high-level coordination between drone and artillery teams, more than 60% of Russian vehicles were destroyed before they even approached the front, which later forced the Russians to reduce their use of drones. Heavy Equipment.

That was when the Ukrainians realized that the supplies from Horlivka had been undermined, and it was time to cut off the Russian reserves by forcing them to engage near Horlivka. In preparation for the attack, Ukrainian forces began destroying Russian observation points. Russian sources soon began publishing combat footage of the unusual activity of Ukrainian forces in front of Horlivka.

As it turned out, it was just a reconnaissance operation. After two days of such attacks, the gray zone was reduced, and the Ukrainians realized that the Russian defense here was weak. That is when, earlier this week, the Ukrainians launched a powerful attack, penetrated the Russian defense in front of the entrance to the hills, and took complete control of it.

The geolocated footage shows how Russian forces were trying to repel the Ukrainian attack with drone strikes, but were unsuccessful.

Furthermore, the footage showed that the Ukrainians placed at least one armored fighting vehicle on top of the pile and opened fire with machine guns at the Russian forces below.

Russian forces spent the entire week stabilizing the situation, and although they have not yet managed to regain control of the tactical heights in the area, they have deployed a lot of troops to fight here, which is exactly what the Ukrainians wanted.

Overall, by identifying key chains in Russian logistics and exploiting their weaknesses, the Ukrainians were able to undermine the Russian offensive operation on the northern side of Avdiivka. The Ukrainian operation was successful, as the Ukrainians not only reduced Horlivka’s physical connection to the front, but also forced the Russians to use their reserves to stabilize this area rather than launch another wave of attacks on Avdiivka.

In our daily lives Frontline reportwe collaborate with military blogger Reports from Ukraine to keep you informed about what is happening on the battlefield of the Russo-Ukraine war.