London, headline,

headline, London, hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers, quote, captured, end quote,

in chaotic withdrawal from Malefdifka.

I welcome Colonel Jeff McCausen, the United States Army retired artillery men.

CBS News, my colleague, he's a professor, visiting professor at Dickinson College, CEO of Diamond Six leadership and strategy.

For weeks, Russia has been pressing the attack at Avdivka with an enormous amount of artillery

that is the Russian style and the decision is made

by the new commanding general of Ukraine to pull back from Afdifka. Jeff a very good

evening to you why f diffka

the battle for a diffka actually has been going on for many many years it was

threatened

even as far back

as when the Russians invaded Ukraine the first time, seized Crimea,

and also instigated proxy forces in the Dongbos region.

So this is a city that's been under threat for a number of years.

The following other, a deep scale, I would argue from a military standpoint, certainly has of applies north and south laterally because the road networks in that area much more

officially.

Number one, number two, it does allow them to threaten a significant Ukrainian logistics

hold hub that is to the north and west of a gift.

But I would not call it a strategic success for two reasons.

Reason number one is the Russians do not have the mass that's best I can tell sufficient reserve forces so if there was in fact

a breakthrough they could then exploit that and move very rapidly westward.

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