As a number of observers here correctly surmised from the very high number of casualties, the Armed Forces of Ukraine didn’t actually conduct a fighting withdrawal from its fortress in Avdeevka. It wasn’t even a retreat, it was a rout, and the order for the retreat to conceal what had already happened wasn’t given until a day after the Ukrainian forces there had already broken and run.
Ukraine’s top general, Aleksandr Syrsky, did not give the order for troops to leave Avdeevka until one day after the beginning of their uncontrolled, chaotic rout from the Donbass stronghold, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Saturday.
Syrsky, Ukraine’s recently appointed commander-in-chief, announced the retreat early Saturday, justifying the decision with the need to “stabilize the situation and maintain positions.” Reports that Ukrainian forces were pulling back began circulating earlier this week, while others indicated that Russian forces severed the biggest supply lines into the city.
The Russian Defense Ministry announced the capture of the fortress city later on Saturday, stating that only scattered formations of Ukrainian militants managed to escape the city, fleeing in disarray under Russian fire and leaving their armaments behind.
“The order of the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Syrsky, to abandon the city was only issued after a day of uncontrolled flight of the Ukrainian troops from Avdeevka,” ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in a press statement. The Ukrainian army reportedly lost more than 1,500 troops in Avdeevka in the past 24 hours alone.
Ukrainian army fled Avdeevka in disarray – Russian MOD, RUSSIA TODAY, 18 February 2024
The Ukrainian soldiers merit a great deal of respect for their ability to withstand a tremendous amount of pressure before breaking. They’re obviously courageous and their morale is formidable; it’s truly a pity that such brave warriors are being sacrificed to such an evil cause by their satanic regime. But as the Wehrmacht learned from 1941 to 1945, there is no amount of courage or morale that suffices to withstand the relentless military pressure and ruthless operational excellence that the Russian military has been able to bring to bear since Peter the Great defeated King Charles XII of Sweden at the Battle of Poltava in 1709.
It should not be a surprise if this collapse on the operational level is swiftly succeeded by a similar collapse on the strategic level. Even in an attrition war, collapse on one front tends to snowball into multiple collapses on multiple fronts. If Ukraine can’t hold the positions to which its forces have routed, or if other fronts begin to collapse, it will be clear that the end of the Kiev regime is rapidly approaching.
Remember, Russia is defeating NATO and the entire collective economic might of the West without even needing to call upon its allies in China, North Korea, and Iran. It’s not just the Kiev regime, but Clown World itself, that is already in the position of Hitler in his bunker, and a few of the more intelligent elite clowns almost certainly suspect this, even if they can’t admit it yet, not even to themselves.