Russia takes control of the city of Avdivka/Ukraine withdraws

2024-02-17 15:37:50, Kosova & Bota CNA

Ukrainian troops have withdrawn from the front-line town of Avdijivka to avoid encirclement, the new commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian army, Oleksandr Syrskiy, announced on February 17.

With the withdrawal from this city in the east, Kiev has given the biggest symbolic victory to Russia, after the failure of Ukraine's counter-offensive last summer.

For months, Russia has been trying to take control of Avdijivka. The capture of the town is the biggest territorial gain for Russian forces since they took the eastern town of Bakhmut last May, and the victory comes just before the second anniversary of the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

"I have decided to withdraw our units from the city and change the defense to more favorable lines," Syrskiy said in a Facebook post.

"Our soldiers performed their military duties with dignity, did everything they could to destroy the best units of the Russian army and inflicted great damage on the enemy."

This is Syrskiy's first major decision since he was appointed to the post of army commander-in-chief on February 8. He said that he took this decision to save the lives of the soldiers and to prevent their encirclement.

Ukrainian forces are facing pressure on the eastern front due to ammunition shortages as a $60 billion US military aid package is blocked in Congress.

General Oleksandr Tarnavsky, who commands the soldiers in the Avdijivka area, said that "in a situation where the enemy is advancing on the dead bodies of his own soldiers and has the advantage of grenade attacks, withdrawal was the only correct decision."

"The encirclement was prevented, the personnel was withdrawn and our soldiers were placed on the designated defense lines," he wrote on Telegram.

Before the order to withdraw from Avdijivka was given, Tarnavsyk said on Friday that some Ukrainian soldiers had been captured by Russian forces.

The battle for the industrial hub, located less than 10 kilometers north of the Russian-held city of Donetsk, has been one of the bloodiest in the two-year war.

Many have compared the battle for this city to that fought in Bahmut, where tens of thousands of soldiers were killed.

Avdijivka had about 34,000 residents before Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Most of the town has been destroyed by fighting, but about 1,000 residents still live there, according to local authorities.

The city has significant historical value and Moscow hopes that taking it under its control will make it more difficult for Ukraine to bomb Donetsk.

Avdijivka is in Ukraine's Donetsk region, which the Kremlin claims is part of Russia after annexing it in 2022.

This city fell under the control of pro-Russian separatists in July 2014, but was quickly recaptured by Ukraine./ REL