The Ukrainian army withdrew from Avdiivka, a city in the east of the country that was in a critical situation due to the Russian settlement, General Oleksandr Tarnavski, commander of kyiv’s troops in this area, announced this Friday.
“In accordance with the order received, we have withdrawn from Avdiivka to positions prepared in advance,” he wrote on Telegram. It is Russia’s biggest symbolic victory since the failure of kyiv’s counteroffensive last summer.
Since October, Ukrainian soldiers resisted, outnumbered and materially inferior, the Russian assaults against this town in the Donbas mining basin, where the situation had become especially critical in recent days.
General Tarnavski had acknowledged the day before the existence of street fighting within the city, the withdrawal of his troops from some positions and the construction of defensive structures to which they could retreat if necessary.
“In the situation in which the enemy advances on the corpses of its own soldiers and has ten times more howitzers (…) This is the only good solution,” Tarnavski justified when announcing the withdrawal.
The general stressed that his forces avoided being surrounded by the enemy and were already positioned in the new defense lines near this largely destroyed industrial city.
The withdrawal from Avdiivka is the first major military decision since the appointment of a new commander in chief, Oleksander Sirski, on February 8.
“I have decided to withdraw our units from the city and move to defense on more favorable lines,” Sirski wrote on his Facebook page.
“Our soldiers performed their military duty with dignity, did everything possible to destroy the best Russian military units and inflict significant losses on the enemy,” he added.
Avdiivka had become a symbol of the resistance of kyiv’s forces as the second anniversary of the start of the invasion launched by Moscow against this former Soviet republic on February 24, 2022 approaches.
The city was briefly taken over in July 2014 by pro-Russian separatists but regained control of kyiv, which had maintained it all this time despite its proximity to Donetsk, a separatist stronghold in eastern Ukraine for ten years.
Zelensky’s diplomatic battle
Avdiivka is the most significant advance for Russia since the conquest of Bakhmut in May 2023, after months of fierce fighting that left thousands dead.
Despite being largely destroyed, some 900 civilians remain there, according to local authorities. Russia hopes to make its tough take on the Ukrainian bombing of Donetsk.
On another front, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky fought a diplomatic battle with a tour to Berlin and Paris this Friday, to ensure that Western powers continue to help Kiev.
During his visits to these allied countries, the Ukrainian leader signed security agreements with the head of the German government, Olaf Scholz, and the French president, Emmanuel Macron.
The agreements provide for an increase in military aid to the former Soviet republic.
On Saturday, Zelensky will plead before the Munich Security Conference for the continuation of international financial assistance, at a time when the delivery of funds from his main donor, the United States, is on hold due to struggles in Congress between Democrats and republicans.
Since the failure of its counteroffensive in the summer of 2023, Ukraine has faced Russian troops on the offensive, shortages of men, weapons and ammunition, and suspense over the continuation of Western aid.
“We are doing everything possible to ensure that our fighters have sufficient organizational and technological capabilities to save as many Ukrainian lives as possible,” Zelensky declared.
On Friday, the German research institute Kiel Institute stated that the European Union will have to “at least double its military aid” to Ukraine to compensate for US inaction.
“It is highly uncertain that the United States will send additional military aid in 2024,” said the institute, which compiles information on military, financial and humanitarian aid promised and delivered to Ukraine since the 2022 Russian invasion.
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