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Ukraine’s military chief said early Saturday that he will withdraw troops from the town of Avdiivka in eastern Ukraine, where outnumbered defenders fought off a Russian attack for four months.
The timing is critical as Russia seeks a morale boost ahead of the second anniversary, on February 24, of Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and Russia’s March presidential election.
In a brief statement posted on Facebook early Saturday, Ukrainian commander Oleksandr Syrskyi said he had made the decision to avoid the encirclement and preserve the life and health of servicemen.”
The commander-in-chief added that troops were moving toward more favorable lines.”
Our soldiers performed their military duty with dignity, did everything possible to destroy the best Russian military units and inflicted significant losses on the enemy in terms of manpower and equipment.
We are taking measures to stabilize the situation and maintain our positions, the statement said.
The withdrawal came a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made another trip to Western Europe on Friday, hoping to pressure his country’s Western allies to continue providing military support.
It was the first major test for Syrskyi since he was named Ukraine’s new army chief last week.
In his previous position as commander of Ukrainian ground forces, he faced criticism for holding the city of Bakhmut for nine months, a siege that became the longest and bloodiest battle of the war and cost Ukraine dearly, but also served to undermine Russian forces.
Reports emerged in recent days that Ukrainian troops in Avdiika were facing a worsening situation.
Street fighting was taking place in the bombed-out city, where Ukrainian troops are outnumbered 7 to 1, according to Oleksandr Borodin, press officer of the 3rd Assault Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Rodion Kudriashov, deputy commander of the brigade, said Friday that Ukrainian troops were still resisting an attack by about 15,000 Russian troops, according to his calculations, but that he expected the situation would soon become critical.
The enemy is trying to penetrate our defenses and in some places bypass our positions, he said.
The Third Brigade said on its social media account on Friday that its soldiers were at the massive Avdiivka coke plant. Russian warplanes have been dropping about 60 bombs a day, incessantly bombing the area and launching attacks with armor and infantry, the brigade said.
A video showed thick black smoke above the factory, supposedly caused by burning fuel tanks. The post said: Poisonous smog spreads throughout the plant.
Russian media reported that Kremlin forces were making extensive use of aircraft-launched glide bombs, which fly at a lower angle, to attack Ukrainian positions.
Russian troops carried out 33 assaults on Avdiivka over the previous 24 hours, Ukraine’s General Staff said on Friday. The Russians have been trying to capture the city since last October, but made only gradual progress before a recent breakthrough.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby said Thursday that Russian forces were beginning to overwhelm Ukrainian defenses in the eastern city. He said Avdiivka is at risk of falling into Russian hands, something he attributed largely to the fact that Ukrainian forces are running out of artillery ammunition.
The United States is Ukraine’s biggest supporter, but some $60 billion for kyiv is delayed by political disagreements among American lawmakers.
Avdiivka, heavily fortified with a network of tunnels and concrete fortifications, is located in the northern suburbs of Donetsk, a city in a region of the same name that Russian forces partially occupy. The capture of Avdiivka could be a timely boost for Moscow and serve as a possible springboard for Russia to move deeper into the region.
According to Donetsk regional governor Vadym Filashkin, fewer than 1,000 people remain in the city. The city, with a pre-war population of around 31,000, is today a bombed-out shell of what it once was.
Aerial images of Avdiivka obtained last December showed an apocalyptic scene and hinted at Russia’s staggering losses, with the bodies of some 150 soldiers, most dressed in Russian uniforms, strewn along tree lines where they sought shelter.
However, the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington think tank, said on Thursday that taking Avdiivka would be more of a symbolic victory for the Kremlin and would not bring significant changes to the 1,500-kilometre front line that is barely visible. has moved in recent months. .
The possible Russian capture of Avdiivka would not be operationally significant and would likely only offer the Kremlin immediate informational and political victories, the institute said in an assessment.
Russian forces would be highly unlikely to make rapid and operationally significant advances from Avdiivka if they captured the settlement, and the possible Russian capture of Avdiivka would at most set the conditions for further limited tactical gains, he added.
(Only the title and image of this report may have been modified by Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
First published: February 17, 2024 | 09:20 IS
