February 17, 2024
On Saturday night, the Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Alexander Syrsky, announced the withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from Avdiivka in the Donetsk region. The Russians managed to encircle part of the Ukrainian troops and cut off the last major route along which the defenders were supplied.
“Based on the operational situation that has developed around Avdeevka, in order to avoid encirclement and preserve the lives and health of military personnel, I decided to withdraw our units from the city and switch to defense on more advantageous lines,” Syrsky said in a statement on Facebook.
The commander of the Tavria group, Alexander Tarnavsky, said that “personnel have already been withdrawn” and the Ukrainian military “took up defensive positions at certain lines.”
Russian forces have attempted to capture Avdiivka numerous times since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022. A large-scale attack on it has been carried out since the fall of 2023.
Sources close to the Russian government said the Kremlin had ordered the city to be captured at any cost before the March presidential election to demonstrate Vladimir Putin’s success in his war once morest Ukraine ahead of his re-election.
The Ukrainian defense forces held the line for a long time; at the end of January, experts started talking regarding a critical situation and the need to withdraw the garrison, but this did not happen.
Avdeevka is a small industrial city near Donetsk, which was captured by pro-Russian separatists with the support of Russian troops almost 10 years ago – in the spring of 2014.
All these years, Avdiivka was held by Ukrainian troops, who built powerful defensive fortifications there. Despite the proximity to the contact line of the parties, until the very beginning of a full-scale war, the city developed and grew economically.
The Russian invasion in February 2022 changed everything. The local factory shut down, and most residents fled the city to escape the devastating daily bombings.
The Russian army was convinced that it would not be possible to overcome the powerful defensive lines in a swoop, and moved on to destroying the city with air strikes and infantry assaults.
To date, little remains of the city: as a result of intense bombing and fighting, almost all buildings in the city are either completely destroyed or significantly damaged.
For both sides, Avdiivka had important political and military significance. Russia tried to move Ukrainian troops to a safe distance so that Donetsk would not come under artillery fire from the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
For Ukraine, Avdiivka is important as a large railway junction, a powerful industrial center, and also as a constant potential threat to Donetsk.
A few kilometers from it there is a road connecting Donetsk, Gorlovka and Lugansk. If it might be cut, it would significantly complicate the logistics of Russian troops.
Photo caption,
During the years of intense hostilities, practically not a single intact building remained in Avdeevka.
On October 10, the Russian army launched a powerful offensive once morest Avdiivka in an attempt to dislodge Ukrainian forces.
Kyiv estimates that regarding 40,000 Russian soldiers took part in the offensive, attacking from the southern and northern flanks, trying to bypass Avdeevka and encircle it.
Ukrainian authorities said that the Russians suffered huge losses – regarding 10 thousand fighters in the first month of the offensive alone.
There is no independent confirmation of the data from the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, but there are many videos on social networks that show the destruction of columns of Russian armored vehicles near Avdeevka.
During four months of fighting near Avdeevka, the Russians managed to advance several kilometers in the north and south. They captured the villages of Stepnoye and Berdich and approached the local coke plant, one of the important strongholds of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
In January, Russian troops managed to enter the city and start street battles. They were also approaching the main road along which supplies were being sent to the Ukrainian garrison.
Photo caption,
The Russian army tried to storm Avdeevka, regardless of losses
In early February, the situation became critical for the city’s defenders; a number of military observers began talking regarding the threat of encirclement. But Kyiv did not give the command to withdraw from Avdeevka and sent some of the most experienced units there for reinforcement.
This repeated the situation with Bakhmut, as military experts warned regarding. As of mid-February, the safe corridor for the Ukrainian Armed Forces soldiers to exit was only 4-5 kilometers.
Despite heavy losses, the Kremlin achieved its goals in this direction. The last defensive line of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, which had not changed since 2014, fell.
The next significant target of the Russian army might be the city of Selidovo, 30 km west of Avdeevka, or the city of Pokrovsk, located 12 km northwest of Selidovo.
Photo copyright: Reuters
Photo caption,
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky visited Avdiivka at the end of December, at the height of heavy fighting
