While in Avdiivka, units of the Third Assault Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) found themselves wholly surrounded but managed to break free, the Deputy Commander Maksym Zhorin reported on Telegram.
“Now we can say that for a certain time, some units of the Third Assault Brigade were completely surrounded in Avdiivka itself but were able to get out,"” he wrote.
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Zhorin also rebutted claims by some Russian propagandists suggesting the presence of fighters at the Coke Chemical Plant in Avdiivka, asserting that “not a single soldier of ours” remained there.
“There is nothing left there, except for a few dilapidated basement rooms. Almost half of all the guided aerial bombs that fell on our heads in Avdiivka fell on the territory of the Koksokhim,” he stated.
The brigade released footage via Telegram depicting their fighters' raids on positions already seized by Russian forces in the city. The video captured with the night vision device showcased close combat with the Russians in the country cottage cooperative and intense firefights.
Additionally, a 13-minute video documenting the intense fighting in Avdiivka was uploaded to the brigade's YouTube channel, which you can see here:
WARNING! You may find the video disturbing.
The footage captured combat operations during the raid of the 1st mechanized battalion of the brigade, the first to enter the area seized by Russian troops. Soldiers faced continuous Russian artillery fire, aerial bombings, and FPV drone attacks.
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The video illustrated Ukrainian forces engaging enemy targets with grenade launchers, employing FPV drones for reconnaissance and strikes, and providing first aid to wounded comrades.
The footage also recorded the planting of explosives and the successful detonation of a building containing Russian military personnel.
Another Telegram post showcased the combat effectiveness of the Brigade’s Unmanned Systems Battalion, with footage of aerial strikes on enemy personnel and the destruction of Russian equipment.
“This is how our support from the sky dismantled the [expletive] forces in Avdiivka. They hit enemy personnel with the help of FPV drones and blew up Russian equipment from a copter,” the caption to the video reads.
On Feb. 15, it was revealed that the Third Separate Assault Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) had been urgently redeployed to reinforce Ukrainian troops pinned down in the Avdiivka area.
Ukrainian troops withdrew from the frontline city of Avdiivka on Friday, Feb.16, to avoid being encircled, AFU’s new military chief Oleksandr Syrsky said on Saturday. Whie this handed Russia its biggest symbolic victory following Kyiv's failed summer counteroffensive, Syrsky said the overriding imperative was saving the lives of his soldiers.
Russia's persistent attempts to capture Avdiivka over the last four months mark it as the most significant territorial gain for Russian forces since the seizure of the eastern city of Bakhmut last May and just as costly in terms of manpower and equipment. This development commencement of the invasion.
The capture of Avdiivka comes ahead of the second anniversary of the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion and has sparked concerns that it may mark the first of potential further advances into the Donetsk region, which Moscow claims to have annexed.
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