Battle for Avdiivka

Ukraine retreats to “more advantageous positions”

The Ukrainian army must retreat to "more advantageous positions" in Avdiivka.(Bild: AFP)

The Ukrainian army reported on Thursday that, after months of hard fighting for the now heavily destroyed town of Avdiivka, it had to partially withdraw from its previous positions to "more advantageous positions".

For several days, military observers on both sides have been unanimously reporting on the deteriorating situation of Ukrainian troops in and around Avdiivka. After months of fighting, the corridor for supplying the garrison had shrunk to less than five kilometers. The main supply route had almost been reached by Russian troops, threatening to encircle the Ukrainian units. Almost 1,000 civilians are said to still be holding out in the heavily destroyed industrial city in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk.

Russian missile attacks in most of Ukraine
Russia had previously carried out massive missile attacks not only against Avdiivka, but also on targets in almost all parts of Ukraine. Six people were injured, infrastructure facilities were hit and residential and commercial buildings were damaged.

The capital Kiev in particular was attacked from several directions. There was no damage or casualties. An infrastructure object was hit in Lviv in western Ukraine. Two people were injured and the windows of several residential buildings were broken due to the blast wave. A school was also damaged.

Hits were also reported in the Zaporizhzhya region in the south-east of the country. Four people were injured and an infrastructure building, a school and a store were damaged. Oleh Synjehubov, the governor of the Kharkiv region, reported a rocket hit in Chuhujiv. A 67-year-old woman died as a result. There were also explosions in the regions of Khmelnytskyi, Poltava and Dnipropetrovsk.

Russia reports fatalities in attack on Belgorod
Russia again reported an attack on a shopping center in the southern Russian city of Belgorod, leaving six people dead. Russian television showed rescue workers rushing to the aid of the injured. The Kremlin announced that the air defenses had fired 14 Ukrainian missiles over the Belgorod region.

In addition, an oil depot in the south-western Russian region of Kursk was attacked with drones. This caused a fire in the facility. There were no casualties.