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Reporting From Ukraine:
Note: other versions of this report are found elsewhere on FR, but this is guaranteed to be the complete transcript - unlike the others.
https://www.youtube.com/@RFU

[ Russians Mined Themselves in The Field & Lost Dozens of Tanks, AFVs, and Men ]

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Day 733: Feb 26

Today, there are a lot of updates from the Avdiivka direction.

Here, the most intense clashes are taking place in the central part of the region. The main goal of Ukrainian forces is to conduct a gradual controlled withdrawal to the next defense line in the region, which is located along the river.

The withdrawal has to be gradual in order to prevent Russian forces from gaining dangerous momentum and ensure the stability of the front line.

In turn, the main goal of Russian forces is to capitalize on the Ukrainian withdrawal by gaining momentum and using it to breach the next defense and collapse the front line before the Ukrainians entrench themselves completely.

The Ukrainian command understands this, which is why Ukrainian fighters continued to hold several settlements south of the river. Apart from killing the momentum of the Russian advancement, repelling Russian attacks on these settlements was essential to ensure that every soldier who was holding strong points in the fields safely withdrew.

The most serious difficulty that Ukrainian fighters in these villages faced, was the Russian bombardments, as the fortifications were built north of the river, not south of it. However, Ukrainian reporting indicated that the destruction of the A-50 long-range radar detection aircraft temporarily halted Russian aviation operations.

The Ukrainian Main Military Intelligence Directorate reported that Russian forces immediately ordered 5 SU-35 aircraft to terminate ongoing combat missions, some of which included conducting airstrikes in front of Avdiivka. Such developments forced Russians to rely solely on ground assaults.

Based on the combat footage from the region, regular infantry assaults in small units of up to ten people did not work out very well, as Ukrainians deployed snipers to control the fields. Ukrainian snipers released many videos showing how they hunted down the Russian infantry in the tree lines who tried to conduct night attacks.

After several days, Russian forces decided to make some adjustments and started supporting the infantry with a couple of tanks and armored fighting vehicles. The main goal was to quickly cut the distance and deploy the infantry right on the doorstep of the village.

The biggest problem that the Russian mechanized assault units was mines. Interestingly, Russian forces exacerbated this problem themselves when they started deploying distant mining equipment to complicate the Ukrainian withdrawal during the last days of the Battle for Avdiivka.

The usage of distant mining was way too late because Russians did not expect that Ukrainians would decide to withdraw timely, so eventually, it did more damage to Russians.

Geolocated combat footage shows how multiple Russian armored fighting vehicles explode on a mine in front of Lastochkine, adding to the staggering losses incurred in Avdiivka.

Interestingly, during the recent briefing, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told Putin that Avdiivka was taken with minimal losses. This claim was not well-received even in the Russian media space.

Prominent Russian military volunteer Andrei Morozov published a lengthy speech, accused Russian generals of wastefully sacrificing thousands of servicemen to advance their military careers, and claimed that 16,000 Russian personnel died in combat during Russian offensive operations in Avdiivka.

••Morozov quickly deleted the post because he was reportedly approached by a colonel who threatened to cut off ammunition supplies to his unit. The next day after he deleted the post, he reportedly committed suicide.••

Despite incurring thousands of losses, the attacks continued, and after conducting dozens of mechanized attacks, the road to Lastochkine was basically de-mined, and intense fights broke out inside the village.

Once Ukrainians finished withdrawing from their strong points in the fields, Ukrainian fighters left Lastochnike, and the fights shifted to the next village on the line, Tonenke.

In order to undermine Russian offensive capabilities and reduce the intensity of attacks, Ukrainian forces conducted a HIMARS strike on the Russian bases in the Donetsk area.

You have probably already heard about the strike against a Russian base near Volnovakha, where at least three companies worth of troops were stationed.

However, what you likely have not heard, is that Ukrainians used a new devastating tactic to maximize the inflicted losses. Ukrainian HIMARS crews reportedly launched the first missile with a high-explosive warhead, and after 15 seconds, they launched multiple missiles with cluster warheads.

The impact of the high-explosive shell prompted the Russian soldiers to get on the ground. Lying on the ground increases the chances of survival when facing high-explosive shells. However, it decreases the chances of survival when facing cluster mutations, so Russian forces incurred substantial losses.

The decreased intensity of attacks in the region will help Ukrainians to gradually consolidate their defense along the river and meet the Russian assault units from prepared positions.

Recently released combat footage features some of this defense, and, as you can see, Ukrainians seem to have prepared fortifications along the natural barriers and continue digging and equipping even more trenches.

However, many analysts on both sides are claiming that the Avdiivka direction line will very soon be deprioritized.

Some Russian analysts alluded to the fact that the only reason why Russian forces continue pressing Ukrainians in this region is to force Ukrainians to deploy more troops to this front line at the expense of other directions because the main Russian offensive effort will be in a completely different direction.

The Head of Ukrainian Intelligence reported that this offensive operation would take place approximately ninety kilometers north of Avdiivka. Here, Russian forces opened four mutually supporting axes of advance - something that Russians have never done before.