Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Foreign Affairs
Related: About this forum20 Oct: Record. Russians Lose 1,400 Men, 175 Tanks & BMPS In 1 Day - Reporting from Ukraine
Day 604: Oct 20
Today, the biggest news comes from Avdiivka.
Here, more information became available about the renewed Russian offensive effort, and the results show that this was the biggest Russian disaster over the last year. The Ukrainian General Staff reported that total Russian losses reached almost 1400 soldiers and 175 tanks and armored fighting vehicles in one day, and 65% of these losses came from two 5 km segments of the front near Avdiivka. The losses are almost 50% higher than during the first day of the offensive, which may come as a surprise because yesterdays attack was not even as intense. However, looking deeper into the question, such losses become unsurprising.
The reason why the second wave of the Russian offensive was even more self-destructive is twofold. First of all, there was no element of surprise. And even though Ukrainian Intelligence did know in advance about the coming Russian attack on Avdiivka, this is not the same as soldiers on the ground knowing what exactly they are going to see and how exactly to deal with it. So, Ukrainian soldiers were more prepared and understood what to do to rebuff the Russian attack more efficiently. Secondly, this time, Russian forces failed to support their ground operations with airstrikes to the same extent because over the last 11 days Russians incurred 5 confirmed fighter jets losses and 2 more unconfirmed, meaning not only that Russians have fewer jets but also that Ukrainians adjusted and are ready to intercept them en masse.
The main goal of yesterdays attack once again became taking Terikon, which is a 25-meter-tall artificial mountain. The main idea is that once Russian forces establish control over the heights, they will be able to control the whole region and advance in all directions. And theoretically, this makes sense because Terrikon is extremely wide and has a lot of firing positions. However, practically, this would imply storming a 25-meter-tall wall under the constant fire of Ukrainians. In the aftermath of the storming operation, some Russian sources reported that they achieved success and established control over the trees in front of Terrikon.
Simultaneously, Russian forces launched an assault across the fields in the direction of Stepove. Geolocated footage reveals that Russians increased the sizes of their assault units by more than 50%, hoping that enough of them would survive during the crossing to take the Ukrainian positions. The video shows at least 14 tanks and armored fighting vehicles, which carry up to 100 soldiers. The infantry was dropped around 150 meters from Ukrainian trenches because Russians wanted to get their vehicles back. After that, some of the vehicles managed to escape, while the infantry got stuck in the field. I will not show you the graphic footage, but the infantry was lying on the ground because of non-stop machine gun fire, and it took just several artillery shots at the crowd to eliminate the whole assault unit. And this was just one assault. Ukrainian reconnaissance teams reported that they were sending one attack after another. Ukrainians were using all types of weapons to prevent Russian tanks from getting close. Sometimes, Russian assault units were destroyed just several meters in front of the trenches. As one Ukrainian soldier said, Russians received such a powerful rebuff yesterday that they conducted almost no assaults today. A Russian soldier also commented about the situation and said that its high time the Russian Command reconsidered its approach of sending one battalion after another to hell, thinking that maybe this time they manage to entrench.
The situation in Avdiivka is so bad for Russians that the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin visited the main military Headquarters in Rostov-on-Don to personally talk with the Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov. The specifics of the discussion were not disclosed, however, some sources speculated that Russians expected to take Avdiivka by today. Putin also sent his regards to the commanders.
The President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky also had a special meeting with high commanders, and the main topic of the discussion was also Avdiivka. The Chief-in-Command Valeri Zaluzhny, who recently visited the front line, reported on the ongoing successful defensive operation in Avdiivka. So far, everything is under control.
InfoView thread info, including edit history
TrashPut this thread in your Trash Can (My DU » Trash Can)
BookmarkAdd this thread to your Bookmarks (My DU » Bookmarks)
3 replies, 665 views
ShareGet links to this post and/or share on social media
AlertAlert this post for a rule violation
PowersThere are no powers you can use on this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
ReplyReply to this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
Rec (8)
ReplyReply to this post
3 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
20 Oct: Record. Russians Lose 1,400 Men, 175 Tanks & BMPS In 1 Day - Reporting from Ukraine (Original Post)
TexasTowelie
Oct 2023
OP
I can't help but feel sorry for the average, low level Russian foot soldier.
captain queeg
Oct 2023
#1
Reads like a WW2 war movie with the good guys (us) blasting tank belly's from below
sanatanadharma
Oct 2023
#2
captain queeg
(10,306 posts)1. I can't help but feel sorry for the average, low level Russian foot soldier.
I wonder what line of BS they are getting fed. Or maybe they are just kept in the dark till they get dumped out of an APC into the machine gun fire.
sanatanadharma
(3,761 posts)2. Reads like a WW2 war movie with the good guys (us) blasting tank belly's from below
Reads like a WW2 war movie with the good guys (us) blasting tank belly's from below and heroically being smarter and luckier than the Bs, Cs, Gs, Fz, Js, Vs, Ts, Is (timeline reference to otherness of wars from the revolutionary).
The feel of these reports is so Vietnam War body count like. I can't remember USA news then with numbers like this now.
However, the counter is the winner; at least of the skirmish.
captain queeg
(10,306 posts)3. Body counts. I remember those back during Vn