This was announced by Ukraine’s new army chief in the early hours of Saturday, paving the way for Russia's biggest advance since May 2023 when it captured the city of Bakhmut.
Ukraine announced the withdrawal of its troops from Avdiivka over ammunition shortages and intensive attacks from Russia.
This was announced by Ukraine’s new army chief in the early hours of Saturday, paving the way for Russia's biggest advance since May 2023 when it captured the city of Bakhmut.
It was learnt that Russian forces had carried out 20 airstrikes and more than 150 artillery attacks in the area over the past 24 hours, he said, adding that the Russians were “practically erasing the city from the face of the earth.”
The pullback, ordered as Ukraine faced acute ammunition shortages and US military help delayed in Congress for months, was intended to keep troops from being completely trapped by Russian forces after months of fierce battle, Kyiv said.
General Oleksandr Syrskyi, who seized command of the Ukrainian military in a significant shakeup last week, stated that Ukrainian soldiers had returned to more safe positions outside the town, which had a pre-war population of 32,000.
"I decided to withdraw our units from the town and move to defence from more favourable lines in order to avoid encirclement and preserve the lives and health of servicemen," he was quoted as saying in an armed forces statement.
The town's loss over two years into Russia's full-scale invasion may strengthen President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's appeal to the West for more urgent military aid when he addresses the Munich Security Conference on Saturday morning.
U.S. President Joe Biden stated on Thursday that Avdiivka was at risk of succumbing to Russian forces due to ammunition shortages, following months of Republican congressional rejection to a new US military aid package for Ukraine.
Capturing Avdiivka is critical to Russia's goal of gaining complete control of the two provinces that comprise the industrial Donbas region, and it might give President Vladimir Putin a battlefield win as he seeks re-election next month.
Avdiivka has bore the brunt of rising offensive pressure from Russian forces in the east, as dwindling Western military supplies has exacerbated the exhaustion of troops battling for nearly two years.
"We are taking measures to stabilize the situation and maintain our positions," Syrskyi was quoted by Reuters.
There was no immediate comment about the withdrawal from the Russian Defence Ministry, Zelenskky or the Ukrainian defence minister.