The Russian occupation forces under the command of Valery Gerasimov, who succeeded Serhiy Surovikin in this position, suffered a major defeat in the Donetsk direction. The Ukrainian Armed Forces managed to defeat the enemy near Avdiivka and Vugledar.
In particular, the Russians themselves write about it. The Moscow Times Telegram channel says that the Rashist offensive near Vugledar began at the end of January, but quickly stalled. Moreover, according to their data, as a result of just one battle, the invaders lost 30 pieces of equipment and hundreds of soldiers.
The militant Ihor Girkin - Strelkov commented on the information about the destruction of the Russian military on his Telegram page. He called many generals of the occupation forces "complete morons".
"The advance of tank and motorized columns, not covered from the air and by EW forces, along narrow roads along sparse forest plantations in perfectly flat terrain (since there are minefields on the sides) ended in a rout," Strelkov-Ghirkin wrote, noting that this was the end of "the offensive of the Russian army on the entire Donetsk front".
The defeat of the Russian troops in the Donetsk direction was also confirmed in the Telegram channel, which is close to the "Wagner" PMC - "GREY ZONE". They published a video shot by the Ukrainian military and admitted that the Russian army was unable to plan an operation to capture Vugledar. It also became known that on the night of February 2-3 near Vugledar, the commander of the 14th Guards OBrSPN (separate special purpose brigade) of the Armed Forces was killed Colonel Serhiy Polyakov of the Russian Federation, a knight of the Order of Courage and a medal of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" II degree with swords.
It is noteworthy that the failed Russian offensive on Vugledar in the Donetsk region has already caused a new wave of criticism of the military command of the Russian Armed Forces. This was announced by analysts of the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
A new report says that Russian war veterans and bloggers who support the war have increased their criticism of the Russian military command. Yes, many of them said that the same Russian commanders who led the grueling assaults of the 155th Marine Brigade on Pavlivka in November 2022 were responsible for the effort to capture Vugledar.
According to analysts, some propagandists blame the commander of the Eastern Group of Forces, Lieutenant General Rustam Muradov, for tactical failures. Moreover, one Russian military commander called for public trials to punish high-ranking officers who repeatedly fail on the battlefield. Yes, the Russian forces will continue to repeat the same mistakes if the commanders are not changed.
Analysts claim that Russian forces are using extremely ineffective tactics. This suggests that the 155th Marine Brigade of the Russian Armed Forces consists of poorly trained mobilized rank-and-file, and not just bad command.