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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said defending the shattered eastern town of Avdiivka was key to Kyiv’s war plans, with heavy Russian losses there likely to undermine Moscow’s conduct of the wider conflict.
Moscow’s forces have focused on eastern Ukraine since failing to advance on Kyiv in the first days of the invasion in February 2022. They’ve been targeting Avdiivka since mid-October, and officials from the town, which used to boast a pre-war population of 32,000, say not a single building remains intact.
Zelenskyy said Russian attacks in the eastern Donetsk region, including Avdiivka, had been “very intense.”
“Russia is already losing men and equipment near Avdiivka faster and on a larger scale than, for example, near Bakhmut,” he said, referring to months of heavy fighting that culminated in Russian forces capturing the eastern town of Bakhmut in May.
“Withstanding their pressure is extremely difficult … The more Russian forces that are destroyed near Avdiivka, the worse the overall situation will be for the enemy and the overall course of this war,” Zelenskyy added.
Bakhmut lies about 50 kilometers (31 miles) north of Avdiivka, which is only 20 kilometers west of the Russian-held regional capital of Donetsk.
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