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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Kyiv’s forces had been “holding our ground” in the frontline eastern town of Avdiivka.
The claim comes after Moscow said it had improved its position in strategically important Avdiivka, which sits near the Russian-controlled city of Donetsk.
“Avdiivka. We are holding our ground,” Zelensky said on social media, sharing pictures from the town.
“It is Ukrainian courage and unity that will determine how this war will end,” he said.
“Our defenders are courageously holding the defense,” Andriy Kovalev, spokesman of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said in televised comments. “They have repelled more than 10 enemy attacks in the Avdiivka area.”
The town had about 31,000 inhabitants before the war and is dominated by a large coke fuel plant. Local officials say only about 1,600 civilians remain.
Avdiivka’s mayor, Vitaliy Barabash said on television: “We withstood everything, we held our positions, all the attacks were repulsed. In some places (we) even tried to counterattack.”
Barabash said the situation was “very tense.” He said it had been the “largest offensive” on Avdiivka since last year’s full-scale invasion.
“For the third day, the fighting around the town has not subsided, with shelling both on positions and on the town itself,” the mayor said. He added that a missile attack had hit the town overnight.
rc/wd (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)
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