[Tee tiong huat]

How Ukrainian soldiers battle against the Russian for month after month...
https://youtu.be/sPC_zB2kfY4?si=iB65DqgPsfkp0tDn

Inside Ukraine’s last stand in Avdiivka, its ‘road of death.

DONETSK REGION, Ukraine — On Feb. 17, Russia claimed total control of the eastern city of Avdiivka — its first significant territorial gain in almost a year.
As Ukraine gave up till the last minute was rushing troops to the city in a desperate last-ditch attempt to hold off Russians by many accounts, the Ukrainian with dozens feared left behind as Russian forces attacked in seemingly endless waves.. Seven troops from 3rd Assault Brigade spoke to The Post about their final days under Russian assault inside the former Ukrainian stronghold. 

Their accounts drive home urgency of Ukraine’s battlefield disadvantage as soldier far outnumbered by Russians wait for Western weapon deliveries and troop reinforcements. From left to right: Bandit, 27, a machine gunner in Ukraine's 3rd Assault Brigade; Schultz, 23, a soldier in Ukraine's 3rd Assault Brigade who held a firing position inside a residential building in Avdiivka; and Shved, 44, a soldier in Ukraine's 3rd Assault Brigade who was evacuated after suffering from three concussions, but was concussed again when a drone struck his evacuation vehicle on his way out of the city. Ukraine — On Feb. 17, Russia claimed total control of the eastern city of Avdiivka — its first significant territorial gain in almost a year.

The Ukraine, which up until last minute was still rushing troops to the city in a desperate last-ditch attempt to hold the Russians off. By many accounts, the Ukrainian retreat was panicked and disorganized, with dozens feared left behind as Russian forces attacked in seemingly endless waves.

Seven troops from 3rd Assault Brigade spoke to Post about their final days under Russian assault inside former Ukrainian stronghold. Their accounts drive home the urgency of Ukraine’s battlefield disadvantage as soldiers far outnumbered by Russians — wait for Western weapon deliveries and troop reinforcements. All soldiers are being identified by their call signs, in keeping with military rules.

Major, 21, a soldier in Ukraine's 3rd Assault Brigade who fought face-to-face against Russian forces inside residential buildings in Avdiivka and was nearly taken as a prisoner of war. He joined Ukraine's military in 2020.
Major had just arrived in Avdiivka in the second week of February and set up in an old, two-story student dorm when waves of Russian troops began crashing against his unit’s position.

Eventually, a group of well-trained Russian soldiers hit them with a barrage of rocket-propelled grenades and were soon fighting their way through the building.

Russian troops backed Major into the corner of a room and screamed at him to surrender. He played along and begged them not to shoot as he frantically looked for a way out.

Other Ukrainian troops came to his rescue with an assault of their own and in the ensuing chaos, he scrambled out of a second-floor window to safety.By the time his unit retreated, he was in charge. So many soldiers had been wounded that there was “nobody more senior left,” the 21yr old said.
His unit was then assigned to a tree line along evacuation routes — one of the last lines of defense — to cover troops pulling out. Soon Russians were “raining down very targeted artillery fire on us,” he said. If there were more troops, artillery and air cover, Ukrainian forces could have held on to the position, he said, adding, “We just needed something to fight with.” When his group finally left the city entirely, he watched the convoy in front of him erupt into fire as artillery took them out. “It was just a convoy of people. A convoy of the best men ever. And in front of our eyes, this convoy was destroyed by artillery. People of my age, between 20 and 30.”

This was the road of death,” he said, “the very last one out of Avdiivka for Schultz, 23 arrived at his position in Avdiivka early in the morning on Feb. 9 was working with Major inside the two-story dorm & fight started to feel real, he said, when Ukrainian soldier fired a rocket-propelled grenade on Russian infantry vehicle outside his window, hitting the driver & vehicle lost control and soldiers sitting on top of it began jumping off and “we started taking them out.” For the next several days, “Russians were trying to storm our positions, wave after wave after wave,” he said. When the retreat order came in, he left in an armored personnel carrier. There were no windows from which to view the outside, but from sounds of it, a shell landed just in front of their vehicle and another to the side as they careened out of the city.

Kavkaz, 20. For several days after deployed to Avdiivka’s coke plant — a type of coal used to make steel — squad leader Kavkaz organized his troops to fend off assaults on their positions inside abandoned houses, around 3/4 of Russians they fought appeared to have decent military training, he said. The rest were “just confused.” But only a little more than half of his troops had any combat experience themselves. His unit was getting ready to carry out order to retreat as soldiers from 2nd Presidential Brigade turned up, they lost & asking for info lost all communication with their commander and had no idea about the order to withdraw.

Time was running out, so Kavkaz quickly arranged vehicles to help those troops pull out, including his own Toyota Hilux pickup truck, which the soldiers later returned heavily damaged and without a windshield.
Although his troops were scheduled to leave in shifts @4:30am as lost troops were allowed to evacuate first, 30 min, or even an hr, is very crucial, a great risk for us,” he said.
Those small delays made a dangerous situation more critical.

“I believe the [retreat] order should have been given earlier,” he added. “Even five hours earlier would’ve made a difference.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/202...a-advance/