Ukrainian troops withdraw from Avdiivka

17 February 11:25

On the night of Saturday, 17 February, the Ukrainian Armed Forces withdrew from Avdiivka. This was stated by the Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Oleksandr Syrskyi, according to

“Based on the operational situation around Avdiivka, in order to avoid encirclement and preserve the lives and health of the military, I decided to withdraw our units from the city and move to defence on more favourable lines,”

– Syrskyi wrote.

The Commander-in-Chief added that measures are being taken to stabilise the situation and hold their positions.

“The lives of servicemen are the highest value. We will take back Avdiivka anyway,”

– he said.

Battle for Avdiivka

russian troops intensified their offensive on Avdiivka in October 2023, simultaneously with massive strikes on the city.

on 8 February, a representative of the Tavria operational and strategic grouping of troops, Dmytro Lykhoviy, said that fighting was continuing in Avdiivka within the city’s urban area.

on 14 February, the Donetsk Regional State Administration stated that the road to Avdiivka was completely shelled. According to Lykhoviy, if Russia cuts off the main logistics artery to Avdiivka, there are backup routes.

The next day, soldiers of the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade confirmed that they had been urgently redeployed to the Avdiivka area of Donetsk region to reinforce Ukrainian troops.

on 16 February, the commander of the Tavria operational and strategic grouping of troops, Oleksandr Tarnavsky, said that Ukrainian units were continuing the heroic defence of Avdiivka, but had to abandon one of their positions on the southern outskirts of the city .

Дзвенислава Карплюк
Editor