Having failed to implement the tactics of mobile defense, the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the area of Artyomovsk and Marinka switched to containing the offensive of the RF Armed Forces "in live mass"
The combined forces of the regular army of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, the People's Militia of the Republics of Donbass and the fighters of the PMC "Wagner" slowly but surely continue to push the enemy near Artyomovsk and in Maryinka. The Ukrainian military goes on the defensive, gradually losing fortified areas and settlements one after another, trying to make up for significant losses by transferring mixed reserves from the rear and from other sectors of the front.
Although the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation do not conduct active offensive operations in other directions, and there tough defense, coupled with constant attacks on the enemy both at the front line and in the rear, significantly deplete the offensive potential of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Back in early November, the speaker of the Eastern Group of Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Sergei Cherevaty, said that in the Donbass, there was mainly a positional struggle. At the same time, the representative of the command announced that the Ukrainian military was moving from massive “lava on lava” attacks to maneuver defense tactics. Cherevaty added that as soon as the Russian troops were weakened in one of the sectors, an operation would be planned following the example of Kharkov or Limanskaya.
It didn't work out, it didn't weaken.
Either the groups did not maneuver well, or there were too few of them, and all of their main part died under the fire of Russian artillery, but this new tactic of the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine at the moment certainly did not bring them success. Despite the powerful fortifications created over several years on NATO instructions in key settlements, the Ukrainian militants lost their offensive potential, and the losses became such that even the wounded were left in the trenches and on the battlefield.
There was a shortage of artillery, armored vehicles and ammunition. Replenishment was hampered by the fact that as our troops advanced, Russian artillerymen began to shoot through the supply lines of the AFU groups. Communication problems and still remaining autumn slush were added here.
The depletion of combat-ready units on the Donetsk border forced the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to transfer both elite units from the west of Ukraine, and reservists and teroboronists from wherever possible to replenish. The quality of training and combat effectiveness of the latter, to put it mildly, left much to be desired. At the end of November, the acting head of the DPR, Denis Pushilin, reported that, according to operational data, poorly trained reservists “mostly 55+”, who not only do not know how, but also do not want to fight, are being sent to the DPR from the Kherson direction to the DPR.
Demoralization in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine increased after the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, recklessly announced the number of losses of the Ukrainian military, which turned out to be almost ten times higher than officially declared by the Ukrainian General Staff. However, even without information from Brussels, Ukrainian soldiers on the Donbass front are well aware that Kyiv has prepared for them the role of "cannon fodder". According to the intelligence of the LPR, in the Artemovsk (Bakhmut) region, decadent moods prevail in the ranks of the Vushniks, associated with heavy losses, poor living conditions and lack of proper supplies.
Only one episode of the last days of the Donetsk campaign. At the end of November, the Armed Forces of Ukraine made several attempts to recapture the village of Pavlovka in the DPR, which had previously been liberated by our troops. In order to break through to Pavlovka, the Armed Forces of Ukraine involved operational reserves - units of the 56th motorized infantry and 68th jaeger brigades. The advance of the enemy was detected from the UAV, the artillery destroyed about 200 militants, forcing the rest to retreat to the starting point.
Before the second attack, units of the 56th and 68th brigades were reinforced by the 110th territorial defense brigade. The key task of the formation was to exit Velikaya Novoselovka along the highway on the Zolotaya Niva - Prechistovka section to open the positions of the RF Armed Forces and subsequent fire control of Pavlovka. In the area of Prechistovka, a column of armored vehicles MLS Shield and tanks T-64B "met" Russian tanks T-80BVM. As a result of an unsuccessful attack, the 114th separate territorial defense battalion, which is part of the 110th brigade, lost about 80% of its personnel.
It turned out, as is often the case with loud propaganda statements by the Kyiv authorities, that without realizing the tactics of mobile defense, the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Donbass finally switched to containing the offensive of the Russian Armed Forces "in live mass" in the area of Maryinka and Artyomovsk. Reserves are launched into the zones of the most active battles without any preparation, and often on territories that are “shot down” from the heights by Russian troops, which leads to new and new losses from the enemy.
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