The eastern Ukrainian town of Avdiivka is currently the target of a significant Russian military onslaught. The alleged largest-scale attack in this region featured three battalions, or about 2,000 soldiers, as well as dozens of armored vehicles and jets.
Since Tuesday, dozens of strikes have been successfully repelled in Avdiivka and the surrounding districts, according to the General Staff of Ukraine.
According to Serhiy Tsekhovsky, an officer in the 59th brigade, “They launched their offensive on a wide front.”
“We haven’t faced such a sustained attack [in the vicinity of Avdiivka] since the invasion began. They are simultaneously employing tanks, infantry, artillery, and multiple rocket launchers.
The city of Donetsk, the administrative center of Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, is stated as being accessible from Avdiivka.
Donetsk city has been seized by Russia and its proxy forces since 2014, but due to its proximity to the front line, they are unable to utilise it as a vital military communications hub. The occupying force might move the front line by taking Avdiivka.
However, Avdiivka’s significance extends beyond its strategic significance. Since Moscow’s annexation of Crimea nine years ago, when the crisis in eastern Ukraine first started, this town has been directly on the front lines.
The settlement of Avdiivka has been known as a representation of Ukrainian tenacity and resistance as a result.
Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, posted images of Avdiivka on social media with the caption: “We are holding our ground. How this war ends will depend on the bravery and solidarity of the Ukrainian people.
Over the past three days, Avdiivka’s military positions and residential areas have been repeatedly attacked.
According to Vitaliy Barabash, the head of the military administration in Avdiivka, there are 50 to 60 instances of severe artillery and rocket fire that target the town every day. “As for military positions, they get hit at least 500-600 times a day.”
He laments the damage to office buildings, hospital, and apartment complexes.
He continues, “The firing doesn’t stop.” Yesterday during the day, there were roughly 20 airstrikes. 12 KAB-500 bombs were dropped on the town throughout the night. The BBC is unable to confirm his assertions.
There are still 1,600 people living in Avdiivka. The majority of them relocated into basements a long time ago, although they’re not usually very safe.
Mr. Barabash claims that one person died as a result of the most recent attacks, and it is believed that at least another two people are buried beneath the debris.
The settlements of Tonenke and Severne to the south and Berdyche and Stepove to the north of Avdiivka look to be the targets of Russian advances.
Moscow claims that its troops have “improved their positions” close to Avdiivka, while Russian military bloggers claim that Russian forces have already penetrated Stepove and taken over some Ukrainian important locations.
These violent skirmishes raise the possibility that Russia is attempting to encircle the city of Avdiivka by pushing from the north and south, despite the Ukrainian military’s denial of those allegations.
Since 2014, the town has been well-defended and fortified, making it considerably more difficult for the Russians to make a breakthrough within Avdiivka. They are attempting to encircle it and cut it off from the other Ukrainian-controlled areas because of this.
Along other stretches of the battle line in eastern Ukraine, Russia has undertaken significant attacks. Lyman in the Donetsk area and Kupyansk in the Kharkiv region are being pushed toward by its soldiers.
The operations in Avdiivka and other Donbas districts, according to analysts from the Institute of Study of War, are meant to “prevent them from redeploying to other areas,” particularly to the Zaporizhzhia region further west where Ukraine is making modest headway.