Ukraine announced on Saturday the withdrawal of its troops from the eastern city of Avdivka, amid the advance of Russian forces and increasingly loud voices within the Ukrainian army about the impossibility of maintaining that front.
“Taking into account the operational situation around Avdivka, I decided to withdraw our units from the city and move to defense on more favorable lines in order to avoid encirclement and protect the life and health of soldiers,” wrote the new commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Oleksandr Sirski, on his Facebook account.
“We are taking measures to stabilize the situation and maintain our positions. The lives of military personnel have the highest value. We will return to Avdivka,” the army chief promised.
Sirski noted that the Ukrainian soldiers “performed their military duty with dignity, did everything possible to destroy the best Russian military units and inflicted significant losses on the enemy in personnel and equipment.”
The Ukrainian army withdrew from the Zénit air defense position on the southeastern flank on Friday.
Avdivka was one of the most important fortresses in the Donetsk region and one of the most sought-after targets by the Russian army after the capture of the cities of Bakhmut and Marinka.
The city, located on the outskirts of the regional capital Donetsk, which has been controlled by Russia since 2014, has been subjected to heavy attacks by Kremlin troops since October last year.
In recent days, Ukraine has been sending reinforcements to this front, but the commanders of the brigades fighting in Avdivka realized that it was difficult to maintain control of the city as the Russians sent more men into the fight and tried to get supplies and supplies to interrupt communication lines. the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, said the day before in Berlin that the priority in Avdivka was to protect soldiers and limit the loss of military lives.
