An official retreat order allegedly came too late for an organized fallback
Aerial view of smoke rising from the Avdeevka Coke and Chemical Plant, Avdeevka, Russia, February 16, 2024 © Getty Images / Kostiantyn Liberov/Libkos/Getty Images
Ukraine’s top general Aleksandr Syrsky only gave the order for troops to leave Avdeevka a day after the beginning of their uncontrolled, chaotic rout from the Donbass stronghold, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Saturday.
Ukraine’s recently appointed commander-in-chief Syrsky announced the retreat early on Saturday, justifying his decision with the need to “stabilize the situation and maintain positions.” Reports that Ukrainian forces were pulling back have already been circulating since earlier this week, while others suggested that Russian forces have severed the biggest supply lines into the city.
The Russian Defense Ministry has announced the capture of the fortress city later on Saturday, stating that only scattered formations of Ukrainian militants managed to escape the city, fleeing in disarray under Russian fire, leaving their armaments behind.
“The order of the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Syrsky, to abandon the city was only issued after a day of uncontrolled flight of the Ukrainian troops from Avdeevka,” ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in a press statement. The Ukrainian army allegedly lost more than 1,500 troops in Avdeevka in the past 24 hours alone.
The Russian forces will now proceed with cleaning up remaining pockets of resistance in the city, as well as blocking Ukrainian forces at the Avdeevka coke and chemical plant in the northwestern outskirts of the city, the spokesman added.
Avdeevka has been fortified by the Ukrainians since 2014, when hostilities first erupted in the region after the Western-backed coup in Kiev. From its close 20km proximity to Donetsk, it was frequently used to shell civilian infrastructure in the Donbass, causing numerous civilian deaths.
The White House has blamed the Ukrainian army’s weakening position in the area on lack of artillery shells stemming from lack of US military funding. President Joe Biden once again urged the Congress to pass the supplemental budget request that has been held up in the House for months of which $60 billion is slated for Kiev’s war chest.
