(Dan Tri) – Ukrainian officials admitted that some areas in the city of Avdiivka are in `critical` condition as Russia has continuously shelled in recent days.
Members of the National Guard of Ukraine fire grenade launchers toward Russian forces in Avdiivka (Photo: Reuters).
`In the past few weeks, we have said that the situation is very difficult, but under control. Now, the situation is still very difficult, even in some places the situation is very critical,` Mr. Vitaliy
`This does not mean that everything is lost, everything is very bad. But the enemy is mobilizing large-scale forces into our city,` Mr. Barabash added.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said last week that Russian troops held positions on the outskirts of Avdiivka and penetrated Ukrainian defenses in several areas.
`There is no street fighting in the city. There are definitely groups of saboteurs and reconnaissance trying to break into the city, going through the streets,` added the head of the Avdiivka administration.
According to AFP news agency, Russian forces currently control the area north, east and south of Avdiivka, located about 5km from the outskirts of the Russian-controlled stronghold of Donetsk.
In a report on the morning of February 6, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said that within 24 hours, the Ukrainian defense forces repelled 29 attacks near Avdiivka and near Novobakhmutivka, a village about 10 km away.
In a report on February 4, the US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said that Russian troops had recently advanced east of Avdiivka, advancing along the H-20 highway.
Location of Avdiivka city (Photo: BBC).
Ukrainian Fights Telegram channel on February 4 commented that `the situation in the city of Avdiivka has become dangerous`.
`This means they are just a few hundred meters from the main logistical artery of the Ukrainian defenders. Avdiivka’s fate is being decided,` Ukraine Fights said.
Telegram channel Butusov Plus reported that street battles broke out in the northern suburb of Avdiivka, where Russian units were holed up less than a mile from the city entrance.
`Avdiivka urgently needs new reserves and rotation of units from the heroic 110th Brigade,` Butusov Plus said, noting that ammunition was also needed and calling `the situation very critical.`
According to Wall Street Journal reporter Yaroslav Trofimov, Avdiivka `is increasingly likely to become the first Ukrainian city to fall since Bakhmut came under Russian control last May.`
Avdiivka is considered a strategic city, the gateway to Donetsk in Eastern Ukraine.
Leon Hartwell, an expert at the London School of Economics, consulting organization LSE IDEAS, said that Russia’s control of Avdiivka could allow Moscow forces to consolidate positions around Bakhmut, creating favorable conditions for them to control Avdiivka.
`The loss of Avdiivka will limit Ukraine’s ability to conduct counter-offensive operations against Russia in Donbass, and regaining this city, with its strong fortifications, will pose a particularly difficult task,`
According to him, Russia has `invested heavily in gaining control of Avdiivka, deploying many soldiers and military equipment to this city`.
Michael Kofman, senior expert of the Russia and Eurasia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, also commented that `it is likely that Avdiivka will eventually fall`.
Cedomir Nestorovic, a professor at ESSEC Business School in Singapore, said the decline in aid, ammunition and weapons to Kiev, as well as the problems Ukraine has had in mobilizing troops, means Avdiivka `
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