Ukraine’s military has decided to withdraw troops from a key town in the east of the nation after it became besieged by Russian soldiers.
Ukraine’s Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi announced it would be withdrawing from Avdiivka. A move he said was designed to “avoid encirclement and preserve the lives and health of service personnel”.
He said the military personnel would be moved to “more favourable lines,” reports the BBC.
Avdiivka is a gateway to the city of Donetsk, which has been seized by Russia and engulfed by fighting for months.
In a statement in the early hours on Saturday, Syrskyi said the decision was made based on the “operational situation around” the key town.
He added: “Our soldiers performed their military duty with dignity, did everything possible to destroy the best Russian military units, inflicted significant losses on the enemy in terms of manpower and equipment.”
Gen Syrskyi – who was appointed as Ukraine’s top military commander merely days ago – said troops were “taking measures to stabilise the situation and maintain our positions.”
The United States had previously warned that Avdiivka was “at risk of falling” into Russian control. The US cited Ukraine’s artillery ammunition shortage.
