Russian Forces Make Steady Gains in Eastern Ukraine

Gains have been more rapid since Russia took Avdiivka last month

Russian forces have been making steady gains in eastern Ukraine since taking the strategic Donetsk city of Avdiivka last month as Ukraine’s war effort continues to falter.

According to Russian Defense Ministry estimates, it took Russian troops four months to advance 5.6 miles through Donetsk before taking Avdiivka. In the last three weeks, Russian forces have already advanced three miles west of the city.

Russia was expected to be able to start gaining territory more rapidly once Avdiivka was taken if it could keep up the momentum. Ukrainian soldiers on the front are facing severe manpower and weapons shortages, but Ukrainian leadership vows the fight will continue.

Military situation in Ukraine on March 6, 2024

Russia has also started hitting US-made Abrams tanks on the battlefield, and Russia’s TASS news agency reported Wednesday that three have been destroyed so far. The US pledged a total of 31 Abrams tanks to Ukraine to get Germany to sign off on the delivery of its Leopard tanks. Ukraine took heavy armor losses during last year’s counteroffensive.

Despite the bleak situation, Ukraine’s new ground forces commander, Oleksandr Pavliuk, insisted that Ukrainian forces will be able to “stabilize” the situation and “do everything possible to prepare the troops for more active actions and to seize the initiative.”

Pavliuk took the position as the ground forces commander after his predecessor, Oleksandr Syrskyi, was promoted to Ukrainian commander-in-chief following the sacking of Valery Zaluzhny. Syrskyi is not well-liked among Ukrainian soldiers and earned himself a nickname as the “butcher” for his willingness to get Ukrainians killed.

Ukraine is also struggling to maintain the support of its Western backers as Congress still hasn’t approved the $61 billion President Biden is seeking to fuel the bloody proxy war for another year. Some staunch supporters of the proxy war in the US, including Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), have admitted Ukraine has no chance of winning.

Author: Dave DeCamp

Dave DeCamp is the news editor of Antiwar.com, follow him on Twitter @decampdave.