Avdiivka has fallen into Russian hands, even though there is nothing to conquer because it has been "razed to the ground" and "no longer exists", according to Ukrainian soldiers retreating after the order of the General Staff.
A "right decision to save as many lives as possible", explained President Volodymyr Zelensky, in Munich for the Security Conference, warning the US that the "lack of weapons" benefits Moscow.
The Ukrainian leader then returned to invite Donald Trump to the front, after the freezing of American military aid imposed by the Republicans and the tycoon's outbursts against NATO.
The Alliance's number one, Jens Stoltenberg, also in Munich, warned that "every week we wait means there will be more people killed" on the front line.
And the reaction from the White House was also immediate: Avdiivka's capture demonstrates "the cost of parliamentary inaction", said the spokesperson of the US National Security Council, Adrienne Watson.
The city, which could count on over 30 thousand souls now reduced to less than a thousand, is located just 10 kilometers from the outskirts of Donetsk, capital of the pro-Russian separatist province recognized by Moscow last year, and had transformed into a real military bastion , since 2014. Fortifications, a dense network of tunnels, anti-tank barriers: a thorn in the side for the Russians and pro-Russians and above all an advanced position to be able to hit the entire area with artillery.
"I'm surprised that it resisted for two years," says a Ukrainian non-commissioned officer: Russian forces "destroyed everything, razed it to the ground. They can't say they conquered it simply because it no longer exists."
The announcement of the withdrawal, which came after the images of Russian flags hoisted in the nerve centers of the city, came in the middle of the night from the new commander in chief of the Kiev forces, Oleksandr Syrsky, who last year ended up in a storm for having continued the resistance in Bakhmut with a heavy blood price for the Ukrainian soldiers.
"Based on the operational situation that has developed around Avdiivka, in order to avoid encirclement and to preserve the life and health of military personnel, I decided to withdraw our units from the city and switch to defense on more advantageous lines "Syrsky said.
Russian sources speak of a "mass flight" of the military, a circumstance denied by many observers.
Yet it was no walk in the park: "There was no time to take away weapons and equipment, nor to burn documents and place mines to hinder the advance of the Russian troops", is the story attributed to a Kiev soldier.
“In a situation where the enemy advances trampling on the corpses of its soldiers with a ten to one advantage, under constant shelling, retreat is the only solution,” said the commander of Ukrainian forces in the area Oleksandr Tarnavskiy.
The hell of Avdiivka was shown to the world last December: in the apocalyptic images of the city the horror could be seen, the corpses of at least 150 Russian soldiers scattered among the trees where they had sought refuge in vain.
Since then, Moscow has sent at least 15 thousand soldiers to the front line, because the conquest of the city was considered a priority by Vladimir Putin himself, according to the reading of the British 007.
A report which also indicated what could be the next move in the Kremlin's plan: the attack on Kupyansk.
Meanwhile, Russian troops have consolidated their positions, including by occupying the coal factory, which has been pounded incessantly in recent weeks by Russian bombers.
The fuel reserves are on fire, thick black and toxic smoke envelops the entire area.
It is unclear where the Ukrainian defenses have been relocated.
Now, however, Putin's soldiers find themselves facing kilometers of open fields, it will be difficult to advance unless at the cost of many losses.
Perhaps too many even for the Kremlin tsar.
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