Ukrainian positions remain protected around the disputed city of Avdiivka in the east of the country, but the situation is difficult in light of numerous Russian attacks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday.
“The areas of Avdiïvka and Marinka are particularly difficult. There are numerous attacks by the Russians. But our positions are protected,” Zelensky said in his daily message.
Avdiïvka, an industrial city, has been the target of heavy attacks in recent weeks by Russian forces, who are trying to encircle the city.
The Ukrainian army, in turn, speaks of “repulsed offensives”, especially air offensives, around Avdiïvka and several other cities in the region of Donetsk province.
On Friday, Ukraine’s military said it had repulsed another Russian offensive, claiming it had inflicted “catastrophic losses” on its opponent.
Avdiïvka has been almost on the front line since 2014 and is located 13 kilometers north of the city of Donetsk, the capital of the region of the same name controlled by Moscow, whose annexation Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed for about a year. .
Built around a huge coking industrial complex that employed about four thousand people, about 1,600 residents still live in the town, compared to 30,000 before the war, the municipality said.
The Donetsk region has been in conflict since the rise of pro-Russian militias backed by the Kremlin in 2014, which was exacerbated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last February, but without ever being able to occupy it in its entirety.
Source: DN
