It is no exaggeration to describe the situation of the Ukrainian army in western Avadiivka. Since Kucheredinye was taken over by the Russian army, the defense system of the Ukrainian army in this direction has fallen into a state of complete collapse. Due to the lack of weapons and ammunition and the lack of troops, the Ukrainian army is unable to cope with even the most basic positional defensive battles. For the Russian army, which has the initiative on the battlefield, how to fight now is reasonable. The slightest resistance of the Ukrainian army will attract intensive bombardment by bombers and ground rocket artillery of the Russian Air Force, and then face an armored assault by the Russian ground forces. Under the attack of open and ground fire, the 47th Mechanized Brigade, the most elite of the Ukrainian army, has also become a "live target".
On May 4, the Russian army destroyed two American-made M1A1 tanks in a row in the west of Avadiivka, expanding the losses of the M1A1 tanks of the Ukrainian 47th Brigade to seven. European media commented that the Russian army found the "soft underbelly" of the American tank and forced the United States to make the decision to withdraw the tank from the battlefield. In fact, this does not mean that American tanks are not capable, but in an environment without air supremacy, no advanced tank can withstand the attack of drones and helicopter gunships. The admission of American tanks will undoubtedly further hurt the morale of the Ukrainian army.
As of the evening of the 4th, the adverse consequences of the Ukrainian army's loss of Kucheredinye continued to ferment. That night, the Russian army unexpectedly carried out a large-scale ground penetration, bypassing Novokalinov and Kramik, quickly seizing the fortress of Arkhangelsk, forming a "pocket encirclement" of the Ukrainian defenders in three villages north of Kucheredine, and hundreds of Ukrainian troops in the area woke up to find that they had become "caged birds". Only dozens of Ukrainian troops fled near Arkhangelsk, but they were chased by Russian artillery during the retreat, and more than half of them were killed.
With no ammunition and no reinforcements, the second line of defense in western Avadiivka has collapsed, which is the main reason why the Russian army dares to carry out a penetrating outflanking attack by surprise at night. Prior to this, the Russian army had been using a step-by-step approach and steady progress to minimize casualties. Because once the outflanking tactics fail, the forward troops will become "salients" and fall into the counter-encirclement strikes launched by the Ukrainian army from three directions. Now the discipline of the Ukrainian army is lax, the defense at night is paralyzed, and the carelessness is obviously plagued by inertia, and they scatter and flee as soon as the artillery is fired. Russian forces say that when attacking the fortress of Arkhangelsk, there was little organized resistance.
On the real-time dynamic map of the battlefield on the morning of May 5, the Russian army expanded the control zone on both sides of the assault route. The follow-up forces of the Russian army are also rapidly reinforcing Arkhangelsk to stabilize the bridgehead. The Ukrainian front-line commander exclaimed that the Russian army was simply crazy. And the Russian army's shift from stability tactics to aggressive tactics will give the Ukrainian army on the front line an illusion that the defense line they are on has been abandoned by the military.