Ukrainian forces withdraw from key Donbass city, Zelensky explains retreat

General Aleksandr Syrsky has ordered the move from Avdeevka to “more favorable lines”.

Ukrainian troops have been ordered to leave the city of Avdeevka, Kiev’s newly-appointed commander-in-chief has said, claiming the decision was intended to preserve the “lives and health” of soldiers following months of desperate attempts to hold on to the frontline town near the Russian city of Donetsk.

General Aleksandr Syrsky announced the pull-out in a statement shared on social media in the early hours of Saturday morning, arguing that the withdrawal was part of “measures to stabilize the situation and maintain our positions.”

“Based on the operational situation around Avdiivka, in order to avoid encirclement and preserve the lives and health of servicemen, I decided to withdraw our units from the city and move to defense on more favorable lines,” he said.

The order follows reports that Ukrainian troops in the area were almost fully surrounded and faced near-constant attacks in recent days, with one local commander saying fighting in the area was “several times more hellish than the hottest battles of this phase of the war.” He was referring to the earlier struggle over the city of Artyomovsk (also known as Bakhmut in Ukraine), which fell to Russian troops last year following a lengthy siege.

The decision to leave Avdeevka came less than 24 hours after the head of Ukrainian forces in the southern part of Russia’s Donetsk and Zaporozhye Regions, Aleksandr Tarnavsky, claimed that the situation in the city was “difficult but under control” on Friday.

Tarnavsky confirmed the withdrawal on Saturday morning, calling it “the only correct solution” while claiming that all troops had pulled back to “pre-prepared positions,” where they would dig in for defensive operations.

Earlier this week, the deputy head of the 3rd Assault Brigade – a Western-armed formation consisting of many fighters from the neo-Nazi Azov regiment – said parts of his unit sent into Avdeevka as reinforcements had been encircled, describing the situation as critical. The Washington Post reported around the same time that Kiev’s forces had already been forced to pull back from the city, citing Ukrainian military sources. The paper added that a total collapse of Ukrainian positions around Avdeevka was “just a matter of time.”

Zelensky explains Avdeevka retreat

Ukrainian troops are pulling back to avoid encirclement and destruction, the president has said.

The Ukrainian military’s decision to withdraw from the Donbass stronghold of Avdeevka under relentless Russian pressure was “absolutely logical,” President Vladimir Zelensky has said. He explained that by doing so, Kiev is avoiding heavy casualties.

The announcement of the retreat was made on Friday by General Aleksandr Syrsky, Ukraine’s recently appointed commander-in-chief, who said that the decision sought “to stabilize the situation” and help Kiev maintain its positions.

His remarks came on the heels of reports from the front line suggesting that Ukrainian troops in Avdeevka were in dire straits. A senior commander of the Ukrainian 3rd Assault Brigade, which was recently urgently redeployed to the sector, described the situation as “critical” on Friday, adding that parts of the unit had been encircled. Several media reports also suggested that Russian troops had managed to cut the main logistics route to the embattled town.

Speaking at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, Zelensky attempted to downplay the latest developments, explaining that “in order to avoid encirclement, it was decided to withdraw to other positions.” This was done to “keep the maximum number of Ukrainians safe,” the president said, insisting that it was the right call.

He also noted that it “does not mean that people have withdrawn kilometers back, and Russia has captured anything.” Zelensky claimed that Moscow had succeeded “only in destroying several small settlements and towns,” with most of the damage being to Ukrainian lives.

Despite the latest setback, the Ukrainian leader insisted that Kiev would still win, arguing that it was limited only by a lack of adequate weaponry. “It depends not only on us. And the situation in Avdeevka confirms this. Unfortunately, keeping Ukraine in an artificial shortage of weapons… allows [Russian President Vladimir] Putin to adapt to the intensity of hostilities,” he complained.

Avdeevka has been a frontline city since 2014 when hostilities first erupted in Donbass following a Western-backed coup in Kiev. The area was often used by the Ukrainian military to shell residential districts in Donetsk, located just 20km from the city.

Meanwhile, an unnamed Pentagon official suggested on Friday that Ukraine might soon be unable to hold the line against Russia unless Congress approves a new funding request. Recently, the US House of Representatives failed to pass an additional $60 billion in aid for Ukraine, after Republicans demanded more provisions to improve security on the US southern border.