Russian forces continued to attack the embattled city of Avdiivka with a variety of weapons, including multiple-launch-rocket-systems (MLRS) and air strikes, killing two civilians, the Ukrainian army's Tavria group spokesperson Oleksandr Shtupun said on television on Nov. 10.
The attacks have increasingly focused on the Avdiivka Coke and Chemical Plant but have also bombarded the city.
According to Shtupun, two civilians, a man and a woman, were killed in an airstrike on a residential building in the city.
Russian forces continue to try and encircle the coke plant, a Ukrainian defense stronghold, but have also not given up in their attempts to surround the entire city.
In terms of tactics, Russian forces no longer attack en masse as they did in the earlier stages of the battle, Shtupun said, but instead in small groups of up to 15 soldiers.
Nonetheless, "now the situation is under control, and the coke plant is under our control,” Shtupun said.
It was reported on Nov. 9 that Russian forces were expending a considerable amount of infantry and equipment in the battle for the city, attempting to attack from three different angles.
The remaining 16 workers of the coke plant were evacuated on Nov. 7, but 17 residents of the city, staying in the only warehouse still intact in the factory, refused to leave, according to Ukrainian military authorities.
It was reported on Oct. 24 that around 1,000 civilians remained in Avdiivka, but it is unknown how many are still there at the time of this publication.
Russian forces intensified ground attacks against Avdiivka, Donetsk Oblast, and surrounding settlements in early October in an effort to encircle the town. The campaign has been supported by heavy shelling and air strikes.
The battle for Avdiivka has inflicted heavy losses on Russian forces. Ukraine's 47th Mechanized Brigade said on Nov. 6 that as many as 7,000 Russian soldiers have been killed or wounded there, and hundreds of tanks and armored vehicles have been destroyed.
The battle for Avdiivka illustrates the Russian military command's inability to learn from past mistakes, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) wrote on Nov. 1.
"Avdiivka is a microcosm of the Russian General Staff’s wider failure to internalize and disseminate lessons learned by Russian forces during previous failed offensive efforts in Ukraine," ISW analysts said.
Francis Farrell
