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Putin’s Counter-offensive Turns into a Damp Squib
They have achieved one tactical advantage — for now
Somehow the Western media had managed to frame the second half of 2023 as failure by Ukraine. The reason we have been given is Ukraine started the counter-offensive on June 4th and they did not show any territorial gains as demonstrable proof of victory.
We are going to use the same yard stick they applied to Ukraine and transpose that to Russian military’s performance since October 10th.
Why October 10th?
Because that is when Russia launched it biggest counter-offensive in 2023 by ordering waves of mechanized armored columns into Avdiivka.
ISW’s assessment on October 11th: “Ongoing localized Russian offensive operations near Avdiivka likely demonstrate the ability of Russian forces to learn and apply tactical battlefield lessons in Ukraine. Russian forces launched localized attacks towards Avdiivka after intensive artillery preparation of the battlefield in the early hours of October 10, and geolocated footage from October 10 and 11 confirms that Russian troops advanced southwest of Avdiivka near Sieverne and northwest of Avdiivka near Stepove and Krasnohorivka”.
