General Syrski, commander of Ukraine's Land Forces, has engineered yet another cauldron - this time Avdeevka.
According to Ukrainian sources - there are approximately 40 battalions, from 8 brigades, fighting in and around that pocket.
This includes the 47th brigade, which opened this summer's counteroffensive with the assault on Rabotino (which btw, is close to being retaken now). Once things began to look uncertain in Avdeevka, those poor guys were rotated there. Out of the frying pan into the fire.
In a statement issued today, General Syrski said AFU formations in Avdeevka are under assault on all directions, and the situation is "difficult".
As I've said before, Syrski is our man. Without him professionally sabotaging Ukrainian efforts at building an effective defense, we could have been in much bigger trouble right now. But at every stage of this war, Syrski expertly maximized losses amongst the most capable Ukrainian formations.
1) Starting in 2015 - Syrski and then Chief of General Staff Muzhenko, were responsible for the encirclement of Ukrainian soldiers in Debaltseve. The crude errors he committed in managing the Ukrainian forces there, resulted in the loss of Debaltseve and four smaller villages, and the retreat of Ukrainian forces west to Bakhmut.
2) During this war, he has been the architect of Fortress Lisichansk, Fortress Severodonetsk, Fortress Bakhmut - just to name a few.
Since many Ukrainians have started to catch on, that there may be something deeply wrong with this general - I'll give you guys some of their suspected reasons.
1) Unlike Zaluzhny, who was born in Zhytomyr Oblast, in Ukraine - Syrski was born in Vladimir Oblast in Russia - east of Moscow.
2) Zaluzhny was born in 1973, and never served in the Soviet Armed Forces. Syrski was born in 1965 and served in the Soviet Army.
3) Zaluzhny attended the Odessa Institute of Land Forces. Syrski graduated from the Moscow Higher Military Command School in 1986.
4) Syrski was always Zaluzhny's boss, until Zaluzhny was suddenly elevated to become his superior. Syrski saw in this, allegedly, a smear against his Russian roots. It was alleged that he has numerous family still living in Russia, does not speak Ukrainian, and spent "much time on Russian social networks contacting random women."
Can't make this sh!t up.
Another interesting little bit of context, is that Zaluzhny is apparently a big drinker, in addition to somewhat of a gourmand, while Syrski doesn't drink and is a fitness fanatic.

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