by Simplicus the Thinker at Simplicus the Thinker Substack
Well, it finally happened: Avdeevka has fallen, or should I say Avdeyevka, as it’s being styled by many outlets like Sputnik now that it has returned home.
Ukrainian forces retreated—or attempted to—from every part of Avdeevka, even in the Coke Plant, leaving the new front looking like this:
The yellow lines represent the rough direction of current battles as Russian forces reportedly attempt to storm Latochkino—with some early reports already claiming it has been taken, or at the least that AFU has withdrawn from it, creating a gray zone—with the logical extension that forces from the south near Severne will attempt to close the new gap formed north of the old Zenit/Air Defense Base area.
Interestingly, rumor has it that Zelensky was desperate to hold Avdeevka through his time at the Munich conference, so as not to be humiliated. However, the withdrawal order was only given because the 3rd Brigade (Azov) had already totally countermanded orders and began withdrawing on their own, with other units possibly following. To stave off total collapse of the command, Syrsky was forced to give an official order of withdrawal, but Zelensky is reportedly furious, as per Resident_UA channel:
Our source in the OP said that the Office of the President instructed the General Staff and the Security Council to conduct an investigation in the 3-brigade, which refused to comply with the order and enter Avdeevka in position. On Bankova, they are very angry at Syrsky, who promised to keep the city while Zelensky on a EU tour, but I had to urgently leave the most fortified positions that had been created in Avdeevka for ten years.
In quickly taking over such a large area, Russian MOD’s official numbers claim a likely record day with around 2300 AFU either killed, wounded, or captured:…
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