Ukrainian troops are withdrawing from the eastern town of Avdiyivka after months of heavy fighting for control of the city, a Ukrainian military spokesman said on February 15 as Kyiv's hold on the city appeared increasingly shaky.
"In Avdiyivka a maneuver is under way in some places to withdraw our units to more advantageous positions, in some places to force [the Russians] out of positions," Dmytro Lykhoviy said.
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"Therefore, the key announcement with regards to all this is that supplies to Avdiyivka and evacuations from there are difficult."
Likhoviy added that an alternative supply route that had been prepared in advance was still available to the Ukrainian military.
The Ukrainian military said earlier on February 15 it was deploying the 3rd Assault Brigade, one of its most experienced infantry units, to Avdiyivka.
"The 3rd Assault Brigade confirms that it was urgently redeployed to strengthen Ukrainian troops in the Avdiyivka area," the brigade said on Telegram.
"The situation in the city...is extremely critical.... The enemy's forces on our section have approximately seven brigades," the message said.
Maksim Zhorin, deputy commander of the 3rd Assault Brigade, wrote on Telegram that the soldiers must perform combat tasks in conditions that "were difficult to imagine."
"The battles in Avdiyivka are many times more hellish than the hottest battles of this phase of the war, which were in Bakhmut," he noted.
At the White House, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Avdiyivka was at risk of falling to Russian forces, citing Ukrainian troops' lack of artillery ammunition.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Kyiv was sending as much support as possible to troops in the region. "We are doing everything we can to ensure that our warriors have enough managerial and technological capabilities to save as many Ukrainian lives as possible," Zelenskiy said in his evening address.
Earlier this week, Ukrainian sources and Russian pro-war bloggers said the Russian military managed to reach the main supply route for the Ukrainian garrison as they try to cut the city's defenses in half.
Russia has been trying to capture Avdiyivka since October and now appears on the verge of achieving a battlefield victory. President Vladimir Putin said in late January that Russian troops had reached the city's outskirts, leading some analysts to speculate that he wants to announce the conquest of the city before the Russian presidential election next month.
Before Russia launched its full-scale invasion almost two years ago, the industrial city had a population of more than 30,000. Now the authorities say there are only a few hundred civilians still living among the ruins.
The battle for the industrial hub has been one of the bloodiest of the war, drawing comparisons with last year's grinding fight for Bakhmut. Should Russian forces seize it, it would be the most significant territorial gain for Moscow since it took Bakhmut last May.