Oleksandr Tarnavskyi, the commander of the “Tavria” operational-strategic troop unit, published an announcement on Telegram, stating that Ukrainian troops are pulling out of the Zenit position on the southeastern outskirts of Avdiivka to ensure the safety of Ukrainian soldiers. “We held this position for as long as it allowed us to effectively contain and destroy the enemy. The decision to withdraw was made to preserve personnel and improve the operational situation. Tactically occupying these positions does not give the enemy a strategic advantage and does not change the situation within the Avdiivka defensive operation,” Tarnavskyi noted.
According to the commander, Ukrainian forces are currently in the midst of regrouping, restocking supplies, and setting up units in new positions. Additionally, there’s a planned strengthening of units underway. As of 3:00 PM local time in Avdiivka, there are reportedly no Ukrainian units blocked. “In this challenging battlefield situation, where only rubble and piles of broken bricks mark the once-fortified positions, our primary focus is on protecting the lives of our soldiers. Consequently, Ukrainian units have strategically withdrawn with minimal losses from the position on the southern outskirts of Avdiivka. On other threatening fronts, if needed, troops are also employing manoeuvres to shift to newly fortified positions, ensuring our capacity to continue dealing heavy blows to the Russian occupiers and retain control of the city,” wrote Tarnavskyi.
The Avdiivka sector in Donetsk remains the most volatile along the entire front line, with intense skirmishes ongoing within its confines, Tarnavskyi briefed earlier today. The Russian forces are launching concentrated bombing raids around the clock, mounting simultaneous assaults from multiple directions.
In the vicinity of Avdiivka, raiding operations are in progress, logistical support is operational, and Ukrainian defenders are receiving escalated supplies of ammunition and other weaponry. Consequently, the Russian army is sustaining considerable losses in personnel, as highlighted by Tarnavskyi. According to him, “on February 15 alone, across the entire operational zone of the Joint Forces Operation “Tavria,” Russian casualties totalled 711 individuals – the highest this year. In their bid to gain the upper hand on the battlefield, the enemy resorted to underhanded tactics in the vicinity of the Avdiivka coke chemical plant: through shelling, they ignited a tanker containing naphthalene residues and triggered a fire at the bitumen resin storage. Concealed by thick smoke, they’re attempting to launch an assault on the positions held by Ukrainian defenders.”
According to the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade, a brigade of the Ukrainian Ground Forces, in their sector around Avdiivka, there are currently at least 15,000 enemy personnel. “The personnel of the Russian GRU are tasked with specific missions, carrying out night raids using night vision equipment, conducting sabotage operations, and directing airstrikes and artillery strikes. Despite the disproportionate losses suffered by the occupiers, the situation in Avdiivka remains extremely difficult,” shared the Third Assault Brigade.
The Brigade also announced that in the battle for Avdiivka, Russian forces are resorting to phosphorus bombs, that ignie the tankers at the Avdiivka Coke and Chemical Plant. Approximately 60 aviation bombs are dropped on Ukrainian positions each day, accompanied by artillery and MLRS fire. Despite these tactics, two units of the Russian Armed Forces have been effectively neutralized, with casualties estimated at over four thousand killed and wounded. This information was relayed by the 3rd separate assault brigade.
Russian occupation forces have been relentlessly attacking Avdiivka in Donetsk Oblast since October 10th of last year. Avdiivka borders Donetsk, which has been under Russian occupation since 2014. By the end of December 2023, Russian forces had advanced dangerously close to the city and had been launching attacks from 20-30 directions, as reported by Vitaliy Barabash, the head of the Avdiivka Military Administration. He highlighted the third wave of assaults on Avdiivka. The town endured bombardment from all available weaponry in the Russian arsenal.
In January 2024, Russian forces began bombing the city with air bombs: from January 1st to the 12th, as reported by Barabash, Russian occupation forces used 154 guided air bombs on Avdiivka. Cruise missiles were first employed at the end of August, and over the past year, 146 air bombs were dropped. By January 30th, there were fewer than a thousand Ukrainian civilians left in Avdiivka. On February 14th, a spokesman for the operational-strategic grouping of troops, “Tavria,” Dmytro Lykhovyy, confirmed that street battles had been ongoing in Avdiivka for several days. On the evening of February 15th, analysts of the DeepState, an open-source intelligence interactive online map of the military operations, reported that Russian occupation forces had advanced both to the north and south of the city. Earlier in February, British intelligence reported that over the four weeks in January and February, Russians fired approximately 600 guided munitions of tactical aviation at Ukrainian positions in Avdiivka, and the number of Russian airstrikes had increased from 30 to 50 per day as of February 5, 2024, which is 66% per cent more than in the previous weeks.
