Russia-Ukraine Flash Report 9 AUG 2022 12:00 PDT - End of Offensive West of Donetsk?
Added 2022-08-09 18:54:18 +0000 UTCFSB Colonel and wanted war criminal Igor Girkin just wrote the obit for the Russian offensive west of Donetsk attempting to capture Avdiivka and Pisky. In his own words, translated into English.
"On the Donetsk front - no change, according to reports from the front - the attacking potential of the units of the Donetsk infantry operating here (initially not rich) is practically exhausted. With the available forces, it is hardly possible to achieve the capture of Avdiivka and advance in other areas. Fights continue for the outskirts of Pisky. Although the enemy suffers much greater losses during this operation, even the tactical successes of the “Third Effective Stage” in terms of moving forward are still humiliatingly minimal. Even I - with all my undisguised skepticism - did not expect such modest results."
We can't confirm his claim of "much greater losses" or where those numbers came from. We had repeatedly said that a direct assault on Avdiivka would be doomed to fail, even when the Donetsk People's Republic had more combat strength in May. The reports that Russia is running out of everything needed to wage war is coming into sharper focus.
If the Russian Ministry of Defense deems this offensive a priority, you can expect renewed fighting with other units added to the fight. In our assessment this is not considered a priority by the Kremlin, although we expect fighting and shelling will continue. The DNR may focus its remaining combat strength to capture the rest of Pisky. However, the new problem becomes holding it.
