KYIV – After taking the strategically important town of Avdiivka in northeastern Ukraine two weeks ago, Russian forces have captured three more villages in recent days, indicating increasing momentum in their advance even as Western officials warn of ammunition shortages that Kiev's military is facing.
The Russian Defense Ministry said on Wednesday that its troops had captured the village of Stepove, seven miles northwest of Avdiivka. Ukrainian officials said the day before that Kiev forces had withdrawn from Stepove and the neighboring village of Sieverne.
Ukrainian forces also withdrew from the village of Lastochkyne “to organize defensive measures along a new settlement line” “with the aim of preventing the enemy from further advancing westward,” Dmytro Lykhoviy, a military spokesman, said on Ukrainian television on Monday .
Ukraine suffered casualties during the chaotic withdrawal as Russia captured Avdiivka
The villages were of little strategic importance and less than 100 people lived in Stepove and Sieverne even before the Russian invasion two years ago. However, the gains showed Russia extending its advantage after taking Avdiivka – its first major victory since taking the eastern city of Bakhmut last May.
Ukraine's situation is “undoubtedly difficult” and worsening as the military “struggles with its ammunition and supplies,” Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, the head of Britain's armed forces, said at a conference in London on Tuesday.
“At the tactical level, we are seeing some success by Russia in gaining relatively small areas,” he said. “I think this is a predicament that will likely continue for at least the next few months.”
House Republicans are blocking about $60 billion in U.S. military aid to Ukraine, part of a larger package that also includes aid to Israel and Taiwan. A meeting between President Biden and congressional leaders on Tuesday failed to break the impasse.
US officials attribute the loss of Avdiivka to the ammunition shortage and warn that the situation could worsen significantly if Congress does not approve the aid package.
“The situation is extremely serious at this time,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Tuesday. “We have seen Ukrainian frontline troops that do not have the ammunition they need to deter Russian aggression. They still fight bravely. They still have armor, weapons and ammunition that they can use, but they now have to ration it because the United States Congress has failed to act.”
Russian forces have “begun to take some other towns and villages,” White House spokesman John Kirby said Tuesday. “They’re on the move.”
“The situation is very dire,” he said, adding, however, that he was “unable to put a time stamp on it and say by this or that date.” [the Ukrainians] will lose the war.”
“But they're certainly starting to lose territory – territory that they took from the Russians, and now they have to give it back to the Russians because they don't have the ability to repel them,” Kirby said.
Serhiy Morgunov and Serhii Korolchuk contributed to this report.