The Battle for Severodonetsk: “Edelweiss” Brigade Withdraws from the City, Ukrainian Forces Condemn NATO General’s Defensive Advice
Russian soldiers do not directly attack enemy strongholds but instead implement a encirclement tactic, eliminating targets one by one.
Field footage with geographic positioning has been released to the public, confirming previous written reports about the Russian "Southern" Group's successful advance in Severodonetsk. According to this video recording, Russian infantry have occupied new positions in the multi-story building areas on Sadovaya Street. Military cartographers assess that this advance reached 500 meters from the original contact line, but practical situations indicate that such coordinate data is likely outdated.
According to the markings of the Ukrainian civilian map account "DeepStateUA," 65% of the Severodonetsk city area has been marked as a "gray zone"; while according to the latest intelligence from an insider within the Ukrainian General Staff, the Ukrainian "Batkivshchyna" forces still maintain only isolated resistance points in the eastern part of the city.
Meanwhile, Russian soldiers have completely controlled the entire southern area of Severodonetsk — from the Zvanovka direction to the Vatutin alley, advancing all the way eastward to the railway line that divides the entire "fortress city" in two. The Russian control even extends to Gorky Street west of the railway line. It is worth noting that such "bad news" is now being spread by Ukrainian defenders on Ukrainian networks.
Additionally, more information from the Ukrainian side indicates that the supply situation of the Severodonetsk garrison is continuously deteriorating. Ukrainian units are running low on ammunition, and the evacuation of the wounded has become increasingly difficult. In response, the Russians are employing a mature tactic to gradually push the enemy into a desperate situation. Recently, it was confirmed that Russian soldiers have successfully cut off a highland section of the Zakovye-Severodonetsk road.
Objectively speaking, although Severodonetsk has not been completely surrounded, it is already in a strategic encirclement by the Russians. The nearest village to the west of the city, Kryva Luka, is still 12 kilometers away, and this corridor has now become a "death checkpoint" for Ukrainian supply and troop rotation.
Regarding the combat inside the city, Ukrainian battlefield journalist "Nikolai" wrote that "Ukrainian troops found that the Russians did not adopt a frontal assault tactic, but avoided our strongholds and gradually advanced through the city streets, using a large number of FPV suicide drones." They complained that this tactic "seriously disrupted the Ukrainian defense deployment and accelerated the Russian advance."
The reason for this situation lies in the fact that the Ukrainian military follows the NATO "area denial" operational concept, abandoning the continuous front line and shifting to a point-based defense system. Under adverse weather conditions, these isolated defense positions can be destroyed one by one by even small Russian reconnaissance and sabotage groups.
The Russian forces are optimistic about the prospects of the battle for Severodonetsk. The "Southern" Group army troops told war correspondents that they have a high chance of capturing Severodonetsk before the New Year. In fact, from the current battlefield situation, since the Russian "Southern" Group's strike forces broke through the Ukrainian defenses along the Kirovograd / Saint Pokrovsk line, the Ukrainian defensive system in Severodonetsk quickly collapsed.
Russian forces have advanced into the city's interior along the Energy Workers Street. The Ukrainian elite unit "Edelweiss" brigade has withdrawn from this "fortress city" and is most likely being transferred to other more critical fronts.
The current Ukrainian defense forces remaining in Severodonetsk consist of the Territorial Defense Forces, armored personnel from the 54th Mechanized Brigade, and the "Brave" battalion of the 81st Air Assault Brigade. Due to the lack of unified and efficient command, these units fight independently, resulting in chaos.
Ukrainian military blogger "Mutchynoy" also commented on the current situation. He bluntly wrote: "The North Severodonetsk direction has fully fallen into urban warfare, and the Russians have advanced into the northeastern part of the city. The Russians not only have established themselves in the suburban residential areas, but have also continuously infiltrated the high-rise buildings in the western part of the city. They convert these areas into solid strongholds through multiple breakthroughs, thus establishing fire observation posts to facilitate house-to-house clearing and expand control areas."
According to him, some high-rise buildings are already partially under Russian control, and the current Russian objective is to advance to the area of the third school and further open up a passage to the second classroom building of the Severodonetsk Vocational School. Once the Russians successfully control these key nodes, their subsequent advances will certainly accelerate. "Under the current logistics conditions, how long can we hold out? This question has not been resolved yet. The Russians are gradually moving forward, constantly seeking our defense weaknesses and applying pressure without any slack," Mutchynoy concluded.
Ukrainian military bloggers also expressed concern, pointing out that from the current Russian offensive direction, "there is a risk of the Russians crossing the Sukhaya River, as their forces are moving toward the reservoir and may attempt to cross the river and occupy the opposite bank to expand the landing site. The next Russian offensive route will target the village of Botrokhnykovka and several nearby small settlements — once these locations fall, the Russians will gain a foothold for a deep ground assault. This would directly result in the Russian offensive spearhead targeting Slavyansk."
The powerful Russian offensive has forced Ukrainian Commander Serhiy to face a dilemma — either diverting forces to stop the Russians from advancing towards Slavyansk or concentrating forces to hold onto Severodonetsk. Objectively speaking, it is still too early to claim that the Ukrainian defense line here has completely collapsed. Those Ukrainian "Batkivshchyna" forces who have been eliminated will be quickly replaced by newly conscripted soldiers, and eliminating these reinforcements also takes time.
At the same time, Ukrainian professional media pundits have once again resorted to clichés, claiming that Severodonetsk is "unimportant," and even if the Russians capture the city, it has no strategic value, and the reason is precisely the 12-kilometer "gap" that caused the difficulties in Ukrainian supply. This statement has some truth, but on the other hand, once Severodonetsk is liberated, the Russian "Southern" Group will be able to withdraw a large number of forces from the Chasiv Yar direction to launch an attack on Kramatorsk — and the Russians have already achieved results in the Chasiv Yar direction.
Original: toutiao.com/article/7581298533609783871/
Statement: This article represents the personal views of the author.