Ukraine said on Thursday that it still held Avdiivka, an eastern town targeted for several days by a large-scale offensive by Russian forces, who are once again trying to encircle it.
“Avdiïvka, we are holding on. It is the courage and unity of Ukrainians that will determine the end of this war,” President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on X, a sign of the scale of the ongoing clashes there.
Its mayor, Vitaly Barabach, reported for the third day in a row on Thursday a “very tense situation” marked by “fighting around the city which has not calmed down” and bombings on Ukrainian positions and Avdiïvka. herself. He notably reported a missile attack carried out during the night on this industrial city in Donbass, which did not cause any casualties. “The enemy continues to storm the positions. [Les militaires russes] come from all directions, there are many of them,” he continued.
According to Mr. Barabach, Ukrainian troops retained their positions and “all attacks were repelled.” “In some places we even tried to counterattack,” he said on television.
A spokesperson for the Ukrainian army, Andriï Kovalev, also assured that the troops present in Avdiïvka resisted “courageously” and “repelled the attacks”. The Russian army for its part claimed on Wednesday to have “improved” its positions in the sector.
According to the Russian Telegram channel Rybar, close to the military, Moscow’s forces notably captured a dominant height on the northern flank and entered the village of Stepove, northwest of Avdiïvka, where fighting is currently taking place. Several analysts, based on the images, in particular the videos, of this assault which are on social networks, have for their part reported significant Russian losses in terms of military equipment.
“A lot of destruction”
For Mayor Vitaly Barabach, this is “the biggest offensive on Avdiïvka of the war”, because the Russian forces have, according to him, engaged “dozens, even hundreds, of vehicles”. He spoke of “a lot of destruction” in the city, with one resident killed on Wednesday and four others injured. Two people could also be under the rubble, said the elected official.
Avdiïvka, built around a large coking plant, is located 13 km from Donetsk, the capital, under Russian control, of the region of the same name, whose annexation Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed a year ago.
According to the mayor, 1,622 civilians remain in Avdiïvka and evacuations there are difficult due to constant bombing. Before the Russian invasion, this city had 30,000 inhabitants.