Donetsk-Avdiivka - 16.03.2024
"The situation in the Avdiivka direction as of 10:00 /Moscow time/ March 16, 2024
For the last few days, heavy fighting has been going on, in the Avdiivka direction in Berdychi and Tonenke, where the Russian Armed Forces were able to “jump in on the shoulders” of the units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine retreating from Avdiivka.
However, the enemy recovered quickly enough and was able to quickly transfer reinforcements to the site, creating a numerical superiority in the entire sector, pulling together over 15 brigades by March 6. Thus, the Ukrainian Armed Forces were able to stop the rapid advance of the Russian Armed Forces, even if at the beginning they had to cut off evacuation of their own personnel with artillery barrages.
Despite the numerical superiority of the enemy, the battles turned into positional nature. The Russian Armed Forces maintain a presence in Tonenke and Orlivka, as well as in the eastern part of Berdychi. The enemy counterattacks, from Semenivka, using armored vehicles, but cannot dislodge Russian forces.
The most difficult for the RF Armed Forces and the most important for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, is the northern flank. Offensive in Berdychi rests on Petrivske, and is supported ftom the Coke Plant and its ash dump. Although reconnaissance UAVs have reduced the value of commanding heights, they still cannot completely neutralize it. The Armed Forces of Ukraine actively use armored vehicles, while assault groups apparently lack anti-tank weapons.
The fact the enemy is organizing an evacuation point in the village of Prohres, west of Ocheretyno, also raises concerns. The enemy may well try to organize attacks on the flank of the advancing Russian units, relying on Soloviove and Novobakhmutivka, where there is enough dense forest belts for a relatively covert advance.
South of Berdychi, in Orlivka and Tonenke, the situation for the Russian forces is somewhat better, since only two roads lead to Orlivka from Semenivka, and to the west of Tonenke there are 4-6 kilometers of open fields to Umanske and Yasnobrodivka, it creates difficulties for the enemy in organizing counterattacks.
Nevertheless, even taking into account the current situation, the Russian Armed Forces continue the offensive. To the west of Tonenke, an armored group with infantry occupied the ruins of a dairy farm. And even in the Berdychi area, a breakthrough was made to the outskirts of Semenivka, but without further consolidation: the enemy was able to stop the assault with its own infantry fighting vehicles.
At the same time, “pockets” of the Armed Forces of Ukraine that emerged in the first days of the offensive to the north and south of Orlivka were at least partially cleared. The remnants of the enemy infantry were subjected to massive strikes by TOS heavy flamethrowers with an obvious outcome: the enemy was simply burned out.
In general, the situation is greatly complicated by the abundance of enemy drones. Not only armored vehicles, but even single soldiers are subject to grenade drops and FPV strikes, which indicates that there is no shortage of weapons among the Ukrainian formations. And this, in turn, complicates not only further advance, but also consolidation of the previously occupied positions.
At the same time, engineering work is underway in the same area along the S-051801 Orlivka-Umanske-Netailove road. And the heights west of Umanske and Yasnobrodivka on the eastern bank of the Karlivka Reservoir represent an extremely convenient natural line of defense."
