Day 373: March 03Today there are a lot of interesting updates from the Donetsk region. Here, Russians found out that Ukrainians were too focused on the southern part of Avdiivka and assaulted Ukrainian defenses to the east of Avdiivka. Ukrainians left their positions, abandoning a piece of seemingly functional equipment, but as it turned out, it was a Trojan horse, so once the vehicle exploded and killed a third of the squad, Ukrainians got a perfect opportunity for a counterattack.Last time I told you that Russians increased the intensity of attacks to the northeast of Avdiivka in order to disperse Ukrainian troops and give Russians to the south an opportunity to finally establish control over the hills. However, it seems like Ukrainians refused to play by their rules and continued to prioritize the defense of the highlands in front of Vodiane at the expense of their positions in the lowlands. It seems like Russians started adapting by slowly turning their spoiling attacks into intense assaults. The main direction of these assaults became the small village of Vesele. Usually, it is very hard to cross highways in open spaces, especially if the highway is located on a small embankment, like in this case. The reason why Russians decided to penetrate Ukrainian defenses and cross the road at this particular point is simple. If we look at the topographic map, we can see that this section is located in the lowlands and right in front of the village that they control. This means that they can rapidly assault, giving Ukrainians very little time to detect and respond. Around a week ago, Russians managed to make a breakthrough and establish their positions in front of Vesele. Instead of taking control of this village, Russians made a prudent move and immediately assaulted Ukrainian positions on the hills in front of Krasnohorivka. In doing so, they were trying to cut supplies and reinforcements to the Ukrainian village in the lowlands. Ukrainians, in turn, assumed an active position in Vesele and tried to undercut Russians. Judging by the available footage, in the first days, Ukrainians heavily used artillery and drones and later started conducting mechanized assaults. During this time, one Russian commander of detachments deployed near Avdiivka said that they managed to capture a trophy western armored vehicle, but he said that later this vehicle exploded and killed Russian soldiers. Other military-affiliated people commented on this situation and said that this is how Ukrainians started making use of the broken equipment. They get it to an enemy position in a fake assault, leave it in front of these positions and imitate a retreat, and once the vehicle explodes and kills up to a third of the squad, they assault this enemy position once again and establish control over it. It looks like this is exactly what happened here because later, it was reported that Russians lost control over positions in front of Vesele and also had to retreat from the hill because Ukrainians effectively undercut them, leaving no room for supplies and reinforcements. The freshest reports say that Russians have finished regrouping and conducted a series of assaults to recapture what they lost. The footage shows that Ukrainians destroy with artillery fire one mini convoy of armored vehicles after another. So far, Ukrainians maintain control over the area in front of Vesele, although it looks like they cannot get to the highway itself because Russians have established tighter fire control. Overall, the high mobility of Ukrainian forces allowed Ukrainians to rapidly save the situation and eliminate the bridgehead that Russians formed in front of Krasnohorivka. A change of location is a very effective tool to confuse the enemy because, in intense fights, it is taken at face value. If you had been faced with an overwhelming fire, lost an armored vehicle, and retreated, then it is likely because your attack failed. That is why this tactic works so well.