Ukrainian military: Ukrainian Forces retain control over large part of Avdiivka
Troop withdrawal from a specific area of Avdiivka was meant to save Ukrainian soldiers, said Ukrainian serviceman Yehor Firsov in an interview with TSN. He clarified that the withdrawal was carried out to prevent the encirclement of Ukrainian forces. According to him, a big part of Avdiivka still remains under the control of the Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF), but the situation is critical with relentless street fighting.
The Ukrainian serviceman said that, although his brigade is located some distance from Avdiivka, they can see the city with drones, convincing him that it remains under UAF control. "We are a strike UAV unit tasked with covering Avdiivka's infantry and equipment. We can see Avdiivka from our displays when flying the drones. What's the situation there? It's hard to describe quickly. But I will say this: the fighting continues."
"Yesterday and today, the enemy has sustained colossal losses. Even though they have taken control of part of the territory, believe me, their losses are tremendous. Just a couple of hours ago, I spoke with some brigades who said that in certain areas, 100 enemy combatants could have been destroyed at a position held by twelve of our soldiers," said Firsov.
"There's a lot of burned-out equipment. When we fly a drone, we use the burned equipment equipment serves as markers. The battle is ongoing. The UAF continues to control a significant part of Avdiivka. I understand that an operational decision was made to withdraw our troops from parts of the city to avoid encirclement. Nevertheless, we still control a part of Avdiivka, and heavy fighting continues," concluded the military.