Another person from the town, Liubov Hryhorivna, added: “I have a bag packed. I have no money. Our pensions are small. I love my country and I don’t want to leave.
“He started with Donetsk in 2014. Now he wants everything. His appetite has grown. He’s our enemy.”
Anatolii Anatoliiovych, who was with a group picking up supplies, said he supports Russia.
He added: “I believe in peace. Russia will win.”
Oleksandr Syrsky, the recently appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, admitted this week that “miscalculations” from military commanders led to the fall of Avdiivka.
He said: “A particularly tense situation has developed in the Avdiivka and Zaporizhzhia directions.
“My work in the area of hostilities began with the operational-tactical grouping Donetsk, focusing on the units defending in the Avdiivka direction.
“During the assessments of some commanders’ work, we identified certain miscalculations in situational awareness and enemy assessment, directly impacting the defense stability in specific areas.”
