‘Complete Annihilation’: Five Russian Battalions Went Up In Smoke And Flames Trying To Surround...

The Russian army has lost at least 211 armored vehicles trying, and so far failing, to surround and cut off the Ukrainian garrison in Avdiivka, just northwest of Russian-occupied Donetsk city in eastern Ukraine.

Ukrainian analysis group Frontelligence Insight scrutinized satellite imagery and verified all 211 wrecked and abandoned vehicles. Its tally aligns with a U.S. intelligence assessment, which concluded the Russians have lost 220 vehicles around Avdiivka—and 13,000 people, too.

Most of the losses occurred in the first month of the Avdiivka battle starting in early October. After a few weeks, desperate Russian commanders switched up their tactics, and sent in the infantry on foot.

The vehicle toll “surpasses Russian losses in any other single battle,” Frontelligence reported, “making it the most devastating battle for Russian forces in terms of vehicle losses.”

Losing at least 211 vehicles and 13,000 soldiers killed and wounded amounts to the “complete annihilation of five battalions,” according to Frontelligence. “This represents significant losses in both equipment and personnel, considering the achieved results.”

The roughly dozen regiments and brigades the Kremlin has staged around Avdiivka have advanced a mile or so north and south of the city but haven’t made inroads into the city itself—or cut off its main supply lines.