Did Zaluzhny Bail In The Nick Of Time?South Front

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Written by Drago Bosnic, independent geopolitical and military analyst

The conflict between the Kiev regime’s former Chief of the General Staff Valery Zaluzhny and its frontman Volodymyr Zelensky has been brewing for well over a year and a half. Fault lines and factionalism kept escalating, reaching a boiling point after the failure of the much-touted counteroffensive. Zaluzhny promised to “never” back down, but on February 8, he did just that. This raises the obvious question, why now? Well, the ongoing developments on the frontlines might be the most obvious answer. The area in and around Avdeyevka, a town some 15 km north/northwest of Donetsk, has been heavily contested since the start of the NATO-orchestrated war back in 2014. The Neo-Nazi junta took firm control of the town only in 2017, after which it became one of its most heavily fortified strongholds.

The Kiev regime forces used the town as a staging ground for escalating artillery strikes on Donetsk and other areas in Donbass, killing thousands of civilians. This turned Avdeyevka into a major target for the Russian military after the start of the special military operation (SMO). Moscow launched regular strikes on the town (mostly evacuated and turned into a military outpost at that point) in order to at least reduce the frequency of attacks on Donetsk. NATO and its Neo-Nazi puppets invested enormous resources into turning Avdeyevka into a virtual fortress, prompting Russian forces to make slow and careful progress around the town in order to weaken its defenses and disrupt logistics. These deliberate, incremental advances started paying off back in December when the situation became critical.

The political West and the Kiev regime were still hoping to see Moscow launch a major attack that would’ve led to thousands of casualties among its troops, but this never happened. Encircling Avdeyevka from three sides, leaving only a small area to the west opened, the Russian military created yet another cauldron. Ground forces secured the areas around the town, repelling any attempts to break the semi-siege, while artillery and aviation would pummel the troops in the town. Worse yet (for the Neo-Nazi junta), the supply corridor to the west served to provide a false sense of security, as Russian forces kept firm fire control over the area, destroying any reinforcements with ease. The Kiev regime forces have been defeated in a similar manner all across the frontline, including in Artyomovsk.

Losing that city (previously known as Bakhmut) was a major defeat, despite the mainstream propaganda machine’s attempts to present it as a “minor” thing. Realizing the same would happen in Avdeyevka, the Neo-Nazi junta decided to fall back before the Russian military completed a full encirclement. This is yet another proof that Moscow’s decision to make incremental advances is a far better (albeit more time-consuming) alternative to launching direct attacks on heavily fortified urban strongholds. Simply put, Russia is in no hurry (unlike the Kiev regime and its NATO overlords), meaning that it can easily afford to sacrifice time in order to prevent losses in manpower and equipment. By February 17, the Neo-Nazi junta forces were in a situation where defense became completely unfeasible.

The newly appointed top commander, General Oleksandr Syrsky, had no choice but to officially order a retreat from Avdeyevka. However, in reality, his forces have been doing exactly that during the entire last week. This is where Zaluzhny’s decision to leave the “hot potato” to Zelensky and his entourage becomes all the more logical. He had a choice to end his military career with a major defeat or leave it to those who have always been trying to oust him, thus switching responsibility entirely to them. What’s more, he can use this for political gain, presenting the loss as something that “he would’ve never allowed”. However, the situation on the ground shows that nothing would’ve prevented the fall of Avdeyevka, which even General Syrsky himself admitted, justifying his decision to withdraw.

“Based on the operational situation around Avdeyevka, in order to avoid encirclement and preserve the lives and health of servicemen, I decided to withdraw our units from the city and move to defense on more favorable lines,” Syrsky posted on Facebook.

It’s clear that the Kiev regime’s new top general realized that his career as the Chief of the General Staff would start off quite badly if he decided to defend Avdeyevka at all costs, resulting not just in a humiliating defeat, but also in far worse losses than is already the case. Syrsky also ordered two assault brigades, led by Brigadier General Oleksandr Tarnavsky, to provide some cover to retreating forces. This entire group found itself in a very difficult situation, as the Russian military never stopped advancing. Supported by drone, artillery and air strikes, it reached Lastochkino, just west of Avdeyevka. According to military sources, approximately 1,500 Kiev regime soldiers were neutralized by February 18. The mainstream propaganda machine is already engaged in damage control.

Namely, Western media are claiming that, all of a sudden, the town has “no strategic value” and that “Moscow’s losses are disproportionate to Avdeyevka’s importance”, which is the complete opposite of what they’ve been saying in previous months. Some have been insisting that the retreat was “orderly”, but footage published by the Russian military shows a large number of forces fleeing Avdeyevka on foot, many picked off by FPV drones and artillery. Simultaneously, regular Russian forces (aviation in particular) are launching strikes to prevent the Neo-Nazi junta from establishing a new line of defense west of Avdeyevka. Interestingly, while Kiev was losing the “strategically irrelevant” town, the troubled Biden administration tried guilt-tripping US Congress into sending more “aid”.