After their victory at Avdiivka, the Russians attempted to “consume” Kew's reserves.

Hold the line, but at what cost? It is a difficult equation since the first Donbas war in 2014, when the Ukrainian army was defeated on February 17 in the fortress city of Avdiyivka. “It's a parade ground, but a knife is pointed at Donetsk, the criminal capital”15 kilometers away, explains Picaro A French military source.

But what happens now to this lock, protected by a very dense network of fortifications? About 5 to 10 kilometers west of this small industrial town is a cluster of seven villages, forming two north-south lines. In a few days, the Russians captured the first (Stepov, Lastochkin, Szeverne), but the Ukrainians resisted the second. On Tuesday, the Russians announced that they had definitely taken Orlivka, but Kiev still held Berdychi and part of Donenke. A few hundred meters to the west is the seventh village, Semenivka, a…