According to the city’s mayor, the Russian army is returning to the offensive in the Avdiivka sector
The Russian army has launched its third wave of attacks since October 10 in Avdiivka in eastern Ukraine, the center of which it is systematically bombing, its mayor Vitalii Barabash said on Friday.
For more than a month, this industrial city, almost surrounded but still served by an asphalt road, has been subjected to incessant attacks from Moscow’s armed forces, which have been trying to take it for years.
“The third wave [d’assauts] has begun,” Mr. Barabash announced on Ukrainian television, reporting attacks from “all sides”: from the southern and northern flanks, towards the industrial zone, and from Spartak, a village between Avdiivka and Donetsk, the capital of the region of the same name, from the Russians occupied the town. According to Ukraine, the latter particularly want to confiscate a coking plant that they consider strategic.
Avdiivka briefly fell into the hands of pro-Russian separatists armed by Moscow in July 2014, before falling back under Ukrainian control. Since then, the largely destroyed city that marks the front line in this area has become a symbol of Ukrainian resistance.
Holed up behind solid fortifications, Ukrainian forces have had to give up some ground in the last month, but defenses appear to be holding. “There are 30 to 40 massive strikes in the city every day,” Vitalii Barabasch continued.
The Russian military, which it says uses guided bombs, has recently begun using cluster munitions, which hurl smaller explosives at random over a large area.
According to Mr. Barabash, despite the fighting and bombing, 1,350 people still live in Avdiivka, while the city had around 30,000 residents before the war.
Also read: Ukraine surprised by Russian counterattack at Avdiivka
Complete your selection
Complete your selection
To add the item to your selection
identify yourself
Register for free Already have an account?
log in