West from Avdiivka: The Armed Forces are able to strengthen the defense and stop the offensive of the Russian Federation - ISW (map)

According to ISW analysts, Russian troops, who have suffered heavy losses in personnel and equipment during the capture of Avdiivka, will reach their climax when they face relatively fresh parts of the Armed Forces occupying prepared defensive positions. The Armed Forces of Ukraine are able to create and strengthen new defensive lines west of Avdiivka, which will be the culmination of the Russian offensive on this area of ​​the front.

About it writes in its report on February 18 the Institute of War Study (ISW). According to analysts, there are no supporting videos of chaotic withdrawal of Ukrainian troops, which the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation said on February 18, emphasizing that Russian troops continue offensive operations to capture the territory of Donetsk region.

Some Russian bloggers have reported that the Ukrainian troops are not lacking in defensive positions, and Russians can continue to move to the western part of the region at the expense of "panic" and "disorganized" Ukrainian forces.

"Isw has not yet watched videos of disorderly withdrawal of Ukrainian troops, which would confirm these Russian statements, and would expect to see such personnel if the withdrawal of troops were chaotic and on a larger scale, given the usual schemes of Russian sources that have access to such materials ", - says ISW experts. They indicated that the images available ISW will not present or describe in more detail to maintain Ukraine's operational security.

"These images do not confirm the statement that the Ukrainian forces lack the prepared defense positions west of Avdiivka," analysts say. At the same time, one Russian blogger stated that the large -scale collapse of the Avdeevsky Front is "unlikely" because Ukrainian troops are releasing pre -prepared defensive positions.

The ISW report also emphasized that the Ukrainian command recently sent fresh units to the front of the front of the Russian troops, and ensuring the evacuation of Ukrainian units that depart from the city. According to experts, these recently formed units will be able to create and maintain defensive positions against Russian troops weakened by the storming of the city west of Avdiivka.

"Russian troops, who have suffered heavy casualties and techniques in the capture of Avdiivka, are most likely to reach their climax when they face relatively fresh Ukrainian units occupying prepared defensive positions," the Institute's report states. The Russian army launched an attack on Avdiivka in early October 2023.

During the assault actions, the invaders lost the enormous amount of equipment and personnel-the commander of the operational-strategic group of Tavriya troops Alexander Tarnavsky previously called the losses of Russians in Avdiivka: in four months of intensive phase of confrontation, the enemy lost more than 47 thousand soldiers. On February 17, the Commander -in -Chief of the Armed Forces Oleksandr Syrsky declared the withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from Avdiivka.

Such a decision was made that Russian troops did not surround units of the Armed Forces. However, the Russian troops tried to storm the village of Lastochka west of Avdiivka, but the Armed Forces reflected 14 hostile attacks. We will remind, on February 18 the media called 5 places where the Russian Federation tries to break through the defense of Ukrainian troops.