Putin's men were undoubtedly galvanized by the capture of Avdiïvka.
The day after the withdrawal of Kiev forces from this city in the east of the country, Russian troops are trying to advance further in the region as well as in southern Ukraine by launching multiple attacks, the commander said this Sunday. Ukrainian in this sector.
“In the Avdiïvka area, the Ukrainian soldiers repelled 14 attacks by occupiers near Lastochkyné”, a small village located less than two kilometers from the northern districts of Avdiïvka, in the Donetsk region, the general indicated on Telegram Oleksandr Tarnavsky.
Also read “A tough battle with attrition on both sides”: why Ukraine and Russia are bogged down in Avdiivka
Faced with a growing lack of soldiers and weapons, the Ukrainian army announced its withdrawal from Avdiivka during the night from Friday to Saturday.
This was a “fair decision” intended to “save as many lives as possible,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday.
Moscow congratulated itself on an “important victory” by claiming “total control” of Avdiïvka, a few days before the second anniversary of the start of its invasion.
A symbolic catch
On Sunday, the Russian Ministry of Defense claimed to have advanced 8.6 km with the capture of this city, largely in ruins, targeted since October by very intense Russian attacks despite heavy losses.
The fall of this town, which had only some 900 inhabitants in recent days compared to around 34,000 before the war, has an important symbolic value for both camps.
Avdiïvka briefly fell in July 2014 into the hands of separatists led by Moscow before returning to Ukrainian control.
It is only a dozen kilometers from Donetsk, the separatist “capital” which has escaped the control of kyiv for ten years.
The Russians also on the offensive in the South
Further south, in the Mariïnka area, Russian forces “attempted 23 times to break through the defense of our troops,” added General Tarnavsky, also reporting Russian offensives in the southern region of Zaporizhia.
According to the senior officer, Kiev forces repelled 13 Russian “assault attempts” near the villages of Robotyné and Verbové (Zaporizhia region), one of the rare places where the Ukrainians had regained ground during their counter-offensive. of 2023 which largely failed.
“The enemy suffered considerable losses in men and armored vehicles,” assured the commander.