News

The Ukrainian army withdrew from the town of Evdivka after weeks of fierce fighting against Russian forces

Fighting near the Avdivka chemical plant in Donetsk Oblast, eastern Ukraine, February 15, 2024.

Avdïivka has fallen. Ukrainian troops withdrew from the city in the country’s east on Saturday, February 16, handing Russia its biggest symbolic victory since the failure of a counter-offensive launched by Kiev in the summer of 2023.

Also Read | Live, war in Ukraine: The Ukrainian army announced that it has withdrawn from the city of Evdivka, the epicenter of the fighting.

“According to the order received, (we) We have reverted to pre-prepared verses from Avadivka”announced the Ukrainian general Oleksandr Tarnavskyi, who commands the area, in a message published on the social network Telegram during the night from Friday to Saturday.

Faced with a growing shortage of resources, especially due to the blocking of American military aid, Ukraine could hardly avoid this withdrawal in the face of Russia. With more troops and ammunition, Moscow pushed its troops to victory, a few days before the second anniversary of the start of the offensive, on 24 February.

“In a situation where the enemy marches on the corpses of his own soldiers and has ten times more shells. (…), This is the only right decision”, General Tarnavsky justified. Ukrainian forces thus avoided encirclement near a largely destroyed industrial city, he assured.

Also Read | Articles are reserved for our subscribers War in Ukraine: “Time to make the Russian aggressor pay”

This is the first major decision by the new commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian military, Oleksandr Sirsky, appointed on February 8. He is motivated by desire “Save” The lives of his soldiers.

Russian forces “surplus”

“I decided to withdraw our units from the city and advance to the defense on more favorable lines”Oleksandr Sirsky wrote on Facebook. “Our soldiers performed their military duty with dignity, did everything possible to destroy the best Russian military units and inflicted significant damage on the enemy”General Sirsky continued.

Before the formal abandonment of the city, General Tarnawski recognized it “some soldiers” There were Ukrainians “possessed” By Russian forces, who are “Surplus in terms of manpower, artillery and aviation”.

Avdivka, which had about 34,000 inhabitants before the Russian invasion began in February 2022, has important symbolic value. The city is now largely destroyed but according to local officials, about 900 civilians live there. Moscow hopes its capture will make bombing Ukrainian Donetsk more difficult.

Also read the report: Articles are reserved for our subscribers In Ukraine’s Avdivka, “no one dares to say: we will survive”

The city in eastern Ukraine briefly fell to pro-Russian separatists led by Moscow in July 2014, returned to Ukrainian control and remained so despite the proximity and invasion of the separatist capital Donetsk for ten years.

World App

Morning of the world

Every morning, discover our selection of 20 articles not to be missed

Download the app

According to Kiev, the Russian army has been increasing its wave of attacks to capture Avidivka since October 2023, despite very high human losses. The situation is reminiscent of the Battle of Bakhmut, a city that Moscow captured in May 2023 after ten months of fighting, at the cost of thousands of dead and wounded.

Zelensky expected in Munich

After the failure of the Ukrainian summer counter-offensive, it was the Russians who attacked, facing a Ukrainian army that was struggling to replenish its ranks and was running low on ammunition.

Avdivka’s arrest comes at a time when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is leading a European tour. In Berlin, he said that he was in permanent contact with the military command, whose main task, according to him, was to save the lives of soldiers and “minimize the damage”.

In this tense context, Mr. Zelenskiy signed two bilateral security agreements with the German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, in Berlin on Friday, then with the French President, Emmanuel Macron, in Paris. He plans to attend the Security Council in Munich on Saturday and meet US Vice President Kamala Harris there.

Also Read | Articles are reserved for our subscribers Ukraine: In Paris and Berlin, Volodymyr Zelensky receives unprecedented military support in war against Russia

The world with AFP

Source link

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back to top button