But the army apparently doesn’t want to give up the city. The new Ukrainian commander-in-chief Olexander Syrskyj expressed optimism that they would return. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected at the 60th Munich Security Conference this Saturday.
“Given the operational situation around Avdiivka, I decided to withdraw our units from the city and go into defense on more favorable lines in order to avoid encirclement and protect the life and health of the soldiers,” Syrskyi wrote early Saturday morning the platform X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook.
Big setback
Russian troops have been trying to conquer Avdiivka since October 2023 with heavy losses. Since 2014, the former industrial city has been an outpost of Ukraine in the immediate vicinity of Donetsk, the Russian-controlled capital of the Donbass coal and steel district. A conquest of the city by Russian troops would not be strategically important, but it might be exploited by the Kremlin for propaganda purposes before the Russian presidential election in March, wrote the experts at the US Institute for War Studies. Most recently, Ukraine had to give up the city of Bakhmut, which had also been fought over for months, in the spring of 2023. The fall of Avdiivka has been the biggest setback for Ukraine since then.
Syrsky further wrote that the soldiers fulfilled their military duty with dignity and did everything “to destroy the best Russian military units”; they inflicted significant losses on personnel and equipment on the enemy. “We are taking measures to stabilize the situation and maintain our positions.” The lives of military personnel are the highest value.
The commanding general for this sector of the front, Alexander Tarnavskyj, wrote on Telegram that the army left Avdiivka according to orders and reached the prepared positions. “In a situation where the enemy is advancing under constant bombardment over the corpses of his own soldiers and has a ten to one advantage, this is the only correct decision,” he wrote. The encirclement was prevented, the personnel were withdrawn, and the soldiers took up the defense on the designated lines.
“Inhumane conditions”
In recent days, the situation for the Ukrainian defenders in the city had become increasingly difficult. The Ukrainian defenders fought back in “inhumane conditions,” the press service of the 110th brigade of the Ukrainian army deployed in Avdiivka wrote on Facebook on Friday. “Today the enemy is throwing enormous forces in the form of personnel, armored vehicles and aircraft towards Avdiivka.”
Russian troops have advanced from several sides, the ISW experts analyzed in their daily report for Thursday. Photos have shown that Russian troops are advancing from the north to the large Avdiivka coking plant. In the south of the city, an important Ukrainian fortified defense structure was captured. “Russian troops may complete the encirclement of some Ukrainian forces if Ukrainian troops do not withdraw or make successful counterattacks,” the observers concluded.
The Ukrainian side had already reported on Thursday that its troops were withdrawing from some advanced positions. Brigadier General Tarnawskyj said that reinforcements would be brought to threatened areas. But he also said that new positions were being prepared. “We value every piece of Ukrainian land, but the highest value and priority for us is to save the lives of Ukrainian soldiers,” the general wrote on Telegram.
According to its own statements, Russian air defenses fended off two Ukrainian drones in the southwestern Russian region of Belgorod near the border with Ukraine on Saturday night. This was announced by the state news agency Tass, citing the region’s governor. According to preliminary information, there were no injuries or damage. It was initially not possible to independently verify whether all of the projectiles might actually be repelled on approach. The Russian side, which has been waging a war of aggression once morest its neighboring country for almost two years now, often only reports supposed successes of its own air defense in the case of Ukrainian drone attacks.
In its defense once morest the Russian invasion, Ukraine repeatedly shells Russian territory – both in the border region and in the hinterland. However, the number of victims and damage are disproportionate to the serious consequences of the war in Ukraine.
Visit to security conference
Zelenskyj wants to come to Munich for the first time since the Russian attack on his country. Directly in front of it, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) takes the floor in front of around 50 heads of state and government from all over the world. US Vice President Kamala Harris also wants to talk to Scholz and Zelensky behind closed doors.
France concluded a security pact with Ukraine on Friday and assured the country of additional weapons and help in its defense once morest Russia. “France will support Ukraine in the long term,” said President Emmanuel Macron following signing the agreement at the Élysée Palace in Paris. In the current year, Ukraine will receive military aid from France worth up to three billion euros, following 1.7 billion euros in 2022 and 2.1 billion euros last year. Zelenskyj had previously concluded a similar agreement for his country with Germany during a stopover in Berlin on Friday. Germany promised Ukraine additional weapons worth around 1.1 billion euros for the defense once morest Russia.
