Avdiivka: Ukraine’s Disastrous Withdrawal

Zelensky’s long standing rift with General Valery Zaluzhny has finally ended with Zaluzhny’s acceptance of his removal. Colonel General Syrsky however, inherits a tough situation and was immediately tasked with saving Avdiivka. What followed however, was a debacle as Russian forces split Avdeevka or Avdeyevka in two cutting off the supply road making it impossible to withdraw all of the Ukrainian defenders. The count is still on but so far, even western media and Russia’s Sputnik have gotten their story straight that at least 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed or captured in Avdiivka. In fact, it seems that given the unusually truthful and grim reporting from the western media, the West has lost all faith in a Ukrainian victory and are setting up Zelensky for a removal. But why does Ukraine keep making the same mistakes of holding cities that are in a death grip of a Russian partial encirclement? Such Russian tactics are not novel and are, in fact, centures old, even used since the days of Sun Tzu in BC times. Yet Ukraine keeps walking into the trap. A recent Kyiv based poll shows that Zaluzhny’s popularity, which was already high, has gotten even higher since his removal while Zelensky’s popularity has dipped below 70%. All the signs for an overthrow of President Zelensky and General Syrsky is brewing. Will it happen this year via a coup? But not a fake coup like what Prigozhin tried in the March of Justice.