The capture of Avdievka represents Russia’s biggest victory in the war since May (file photo)
Moscow:
Russia said on Saturday it had “complete control” of the eastern Ukrainian city of Avdievka, hours after Kyiv said it had withdrawn from the former stronghold to save the lives of soldiers.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu informed President Vladimir Putin of the development, a Russian Defense Ministry statement said.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told state media that Putin “congratulated our troops and fighters on such an important victory.”
Faced with ammunition shortages and being outnumbered on the battlefield, the Ukrainian army announced its withdrawal early Saturday morning.
Months of pressure followed in October when Russian forces stepped up their campaign to seize the eastern industrial center, destroying the city and causing mass casualties.
The capture of Avdiivka marked Russia’s biggest victory in the war since May.
Earlier on Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told a security conference in Munich: “The ability to save our people is our most important task.
“In order to avoid being surrounded, we decided to withdraw to other lines of defense.”
“It doesn’t mean that people retreated a few kilometers and Russia captured something,” he added. “It didn’t capture anything.”
“Congress is inactive”
Earlier, Ukraine’s newly appointed commander-in-chief Alexander Silsky said he had “decided to withdraw our troops from the city and move to more favorable lines for defense.”
Several military officials said some Ukrainian servicemen were captured during the operation.
It was Sirski’s first major decision since taking office as Ukraine faces growing pressure in the east over ammunition shortages and a $60 billion U.S. military aid package is on hold in Washington.
National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson blamed Congress for Kyiv’s latest setback.
Still, Zelensky remained optimistic after a phone call with U.S. President Joe Biden in Munich.
“I’m grateful for President Biden’s full support,” he said.
“I also trust the U.S. Congress to make wise decisions.”
‘Nowhere to go’
On the eastern front, a Ukrainian soldier told AFP that “given the lack of weapons and artillery shells, withdrawing troops is the right decision because if we don’t save the lives of soldiers, we will soon have no one to fight with.”
Avdiivka is located in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, which the Kremlin has claimed as part of Russia since annexing the region in 2022 but which is still not recognized by nearly all United Nations member states.
It briefly fell into the hands of pro-Russian separatists in July 2014 before returning to Ukrainian control.
But Ukrainian forces face a new wave of Russian attacks, including in the eastern Donetsk region.
“I’m used to the sound of shelling,” said Victor, who lives in the village of Progres, about 30 kilometers (about 20 miles) west of Avdiivka. “This has been going on since 2014, but now it’s more intense and louder.”
The pensioner came under fire early that morning, riding his bicycle to the last shop open to buy a bottle of fresh water before it closed for good.
Victor said his neighbors had moved out when he heard the gunfire coming and going.
“But I had nowhere to go,” he said.
‘no longer exists’
AFP reporters nearby saw Ukrainian troops using shovels and construction equipment to build new defense lines.
The city has important symbolic value and Moscow hopes that capturing it will make it more difficult for Ukraine to bomb the city of Donetsk, but its strategic value has been questioned.
“I doubt Russia’s ability to turn limited local successes into major breakthroughs after experiencing such staggering losses,” said Mykola Bereskov of Ukraine’s Institute for National Strategic Studies.
The Battle of Avdievka, less than 10 kilometers north of the Russian-controlled city of Donetsk, was one of the bloodiest battles of the nearly two-year war.
Many compare it to the Battle of Bahmut, in which tens of thousands of soldiers died.
Bereskov said that occupying Avdievka will not bring any advantages to Russia and that Russia’s position in the city of Donetsk “will not be completely guaranteed even with the ruins of Avdiivka.”
Before the Russian invasion, Avdiivka had approximately 30,000 inhabitants. Local officials said much of the city had been destroyed and that fewer than 1,000 residents remained.
“I’m surprised Avdievka lasted two years,” Oleksey, a 50-year-old sergeant in the Donetsk region, told AFP by phone.
Russian troops “destroyed everything, razed it to the ground,” Oleksi said.
“You can’t control the city because it doesn’t exist anymore,” he said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
