The Ukrainian army was forced out of the Donbas city of Avdiivka in the early hours of this morning, handing Russia its biggest battlefield victory since its counter-offensive launched last summer.
“As predicted by the orders we received, we withdrew from Avdiivka to positions prepared in advance,” Ukrainian General Oleksandr Tarnavskyi, commander of the region, said via Telegram.
Faced with an increasing shortage of means, due in particular to the impasse over US military aid, the Ukrainian military would hardly be able to avoid this deployment, faced with Russian forces that have far more ammunition and far more men.
This is the first major decision of the new chief of the general staff, Oleksandr Sirsky, after he took office on February 8. He justified it by citing the need to “save” the lives of his men in the city.
“I have decided to withdraw our units from the city and move to the defense on more favorable lines,” General Sirski explained via Facebook. “Our soldiers performed their duty with dignity, they did everything possible within their powers to destroy the best Russian military units,” in order “to inflict significant losses on the enemy,” he added.
Before formalizing the abandonment of the city, General Tarnavskyi had acknowledged that Ukrainian soldiers were “captured” by Russian units, which have a huge numerical superiority in terms of manpower, “artillery and aviation”.
Avdiyivka, a city of about 34,000 before the Russian invasion in February 2022, has special symbolic value.
Although it has suffered massive damage, around 900 residents still remain in it, according to local authorities.
According to Kiev, the Russian army has been multiplying attacks in waves to capture Avdiyivka since October, a situation reminiscent of the battle of Bakhmut, the city Moscow’s troops captured in May 2023 after 10 months of hostilities.
After the failure of the summer Ukrainian counter-offensive, it is the Russians who have gone on the offensive, as the Ukrainian army struggles to replenish its losses and faces ammunition shortages.
The seizure of the city comes as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is on a European tour. He said from Berlin that he is in constant contact with the military administration, whose main task, according to him, is to save the lives of soldiers, to “minimize losses”.
