After a year in which there was little change in control of the territory, the Russian military has won a major victory in the war in Ukraine, as Ukrainian forces have withdrawn from the eastern city of Avdiivka.
Shortly after midnight Saturday in Ukraine, the country newly installed top commander, General Oleksandr Syrsky, announced that he had ordered troops to evacuate the city. Surrounded in three directions by the Russian army, Ukrainian soldiers in the city found themselves in a rapidly tightening noose.
“Based on the operational situation around Avdiivka, in order to avoid encirclement and preserve the lives and health of soldiers, I decided to withdraw our units from the city and move to the defense through more favorable lines.” said Syrsky in a Facebook post.
A year of defense of #Avdiivka within 80 seconds.
Thank you brothers and sisters for your courage and strength! pic.twitter.com/EBWqffckIe— Lew Anno Suport #Ukraine 24/2-22 (@anno1540) February 16, 2024
Although its authenticity cannot be confirmed, video circulating on social media shows Ukrainian armored vehicles carrying out an assassination. fiery but above all orderly refuge:
Retreating armored vehicles #Ukraine near #Avdiivka . As you can see, while some are retreating with parts burning, it should also be noted that the retreat appears orderly, with no incoming fire.@AFVRec_ pic.twitter.com/M3ASg5jLXE
— C Schmitz (@chrisschmitz) February 16, 2024
The capture of the city is the most important triumph for Russia since Bakhmut last May. Located fifteen kilometers northwest of the Russian-occupied city of Donetsk, Avdiivka was briefly controlled by pro-Russian separatists in 2014 before Ukraine retook the city, which had a population of 32,000 before the war.
Avdiivka City Park now under Russian control. Considering the area within the city captured within 24 hours, it is highly likely that Ukraine completely abandoned central and eastern Avdiivka. pic.twitter.com/DCW5ZnkoD8
— NOELREPORTS 🇪🇺 🇺🇦 (@NOELreports) February 16, 2024
Russia’s victory is another step towards a key goal announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin when he ordered the “special military operation” – taking control of Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts. Together, the two areas form the highly industrialized, coal-rich, majority Donbas region Russian speaking population. Russia has since then extensive to achieve its territorial goals, it has captured large parts of Zaporizhia and Kherson Oblasts, creating a land bridge to Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014.
Ukraine has deployed one of its two specialized strike brigades – the 3rd Assault Brigade – to help cover the retreat. Oleksandr Tarnavskyi, leader of the Ukrainian armed forces operating in southeastern Ukraine, described the bleak scenario his troops faced in Avdiivka, which he characterized as the ‘hottest’ zone along the entire 900 kilometer front:
“In a difficult situation on the battlefield, When only ruins and a pile of broken stones remain of the fortress, our priority is to save the lives of the soldiers…The enemy launches huge bomb attacks day and night, and does not stop attacking simultaneously from different directions.” He described Russia as a country that is “practically wiping the city off the face of the earth.”
Avdiivka’s fall came a day after President Biden tried to take advantage of the death of Russian dissident Alexei Navalny to pressure Congress to pour billions more dollars into the war in Ukraine. ‘History keeps an eye on the House of Representatives’ said Biden. “The inability to support Ukraine at this time will never be forgotten…The clock is ticking and this has to happen, we have to help now.”
Once more, maybe it’s time to stop promoting the fiction that Ukraine has any hope of ousting Russia from the 20% or so of land it has conquered – and time to begin seriously pursuing a settlement that restores peace and ends a proxy war that has cost countless lives while benefiting only the military-industrial complex.
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