The head of the military administration in the Ukrainian town of Avdiivka, Vitaly Barabash, announced that Russian forces are intensifying their campaign to control the town located in the east by trying to advance towards it from all sides after fighting for weeks.
Russian forces have been launching ground and air attacks on Avdiivka since mid-October as a focal point in their slow advance across the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine in the war that has been ongoing for 21 months.
The latest advance announced by Barabash follows reports last week that Ukrainian forces had achieved some success in halting and repelling the Russian advance.
“Things in the Avdiivka sector have become more difficult, as the intensity of clashes has been increasing for some time,” Barabash told Espresso TV.
He added: “The Russians have opened two other sectors through which they have begun to achieve results in the direction of Donetsk. And in the so-called industrial zone. The enemy is trying to storm the city from all directions.”
Officials say there is not a single building left undamaged after months of battles in the city, which is famous for having a huge coke factory. Only less than 1,500 people remained from the city’s population, which numbered 32,000 before the war.
Most of the fighting focused on the industrial zone and the coke plant.
Ukrainian and Western military analysts say Russia suffered heavy losses, although the Battle of Avdiivka is rarely mentioned in official Russian military correspondence.
Russian military bloggers also reported on Ukraine’s gains near Avdiivka last week.
Russian reports said on Monday that Russian forces took control of the industrial zone and attempted to storm the coke factory.
The separatists, who are funded by Russia and have seized large swathes of eastern Ukraine, briefly took control of Avdiivka in 2014.
They later built fortifications around the city, which is seen as a gateway to the center of the Russian-controlled Donetsk region, and has fended off attacks since Moscow began its sweeping invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Ukraine launched a counter-offensive in June, but made gains only in passing in both the east and south.
President Volodymyr Zelensky acknowledged slow progress, but denied any suggestion that the war had reached a “stalemate.”
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2023-11-28 06:33:30
