Ukrainian military officials reported that Russia launched large-scale attacks in the Avdiivka region on Friday. They added that some Ukrainian forces were captured while trying to move to new locations, adding that it is difficult to evacuate the wounded amid continued Russian bombing.
The capture of the city would represent Russia's most significant battlefield victory since Kiev's counteroffensive last year, which ended in heavy casualties and the failure to reclaim large swaths of occupied territory defended by well-fortified Russian positions. The withdrawal will also boost Russia's morale ahead of the war's second anniversary on February 24, and reinforce concerns about dwindling military supplies and personnel in Ukraine.
The city of Avdiivka, located 15 miles from the Russian-occupied regional capital Donetsk, has strategic value for Moscow and has been the target of its attacks since 2014. The city has become the latest symbol of the grinding war of attrition unfolding in Ukraine, as it has in Ukraine. In recent months, the forces there have succeeded in withstanding Russian missiles and ground attacks that included infantry, armored vehicles, and air support.
Sersky, who was appointed to his post by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on February 8, has been commanding Ukrainian ground forces since the start of the Russian invasion in 2022. Many forces accused him of waiting too long to withdraw from Bakhmut, another eastern city, when the Washington Post reported that The city was under siege last year. Although Ukrainian defenders inflicted heavy losses on Russian forces before abandoning Bakhmut in May, Kiev also suffered heavy losses.
“The big questions now are how much the withdrawal will cost, and what the next line of defense is,” said Rob Lee, a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute in Philadelphia. He said On social media.
The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, said in a report published on Friday that Ukrainian forces appear to be conducting a “relatively controlled withdrawal” while Russian forces are trying to complicate or prevent it.
Isabel Khorshodian contributed to this report.
