Ukraine said on Monday that Avdiivka could soon become a “second Bakhmut”.
(Recall that Ukrainian troops have been defending Bakhmut for eight months, and the battle for this city is considered one of the fiercest battles of the almost 13-month war in Ukraine).
Last week, the commander of Ukrainian ground forces pointed out that Russian troops were trying to completely encircle Bakhmut.
On Monday, a spokesman for Ukraine’s Tavria task force said it agreed with British intelligence’s assessment that Russia was increasing pressure on Avdiivka’s supply lines, as well as on Bakhmut’s supply lines.
“The enemy is constantly trying to encircle the town of Avdiivka. I fully agree with my colleagues in the UK that Avdiivka may soon become a second Bakhmut,” spokesperson Aleksey Dmitrashkivsky said. “However, I would like to say that not everything is in order with the Russian units moving in this direction.”
Ukraine said Russian troops suffered heavy losses in the offensive.
Before the war, the population of Avdiivka was over 30,000 people.
Ukrainian forces had entrenched themselves there long before the start of a full-scale Russian invasion, holding the front line against Russian-backed militants who, after illegally seizing Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, also took control of a number of territories in eastern Ukraine. .
Avdiivka is located north of Donetsk under Russian control.
On Monday, British intelligence tweeted that Russian forces had made “little progress” around Avdiivka and said the Avdiivka coking plant “will likely be treated as a highly protected key site during the fighting”.
