The Russian army continues its attempts to encircle Avdeevka

For the fifth day in a row, the Russian military continues its offensive in the Avdeevka district of the Donetsk region, trying to break through the defenses of Ukrainian troops and surround the city. In the morning summary of the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, these requests were called unsuccessful.

According to the latest estimates of the Ukrainian authorities, about 1,600 civilians remain in the city, which is located on the front line. Now their evacuation is impossible due to shelling. Over the past day, one resident of Avdeevka was injured.

The head of the city military administration, Vitaly Barabash, suggested on Ukrainian Radio that the activation of the Russian military near Avdeevka is due to the fact that they were tasked with reaching the administrative borders of the Donetsk region by December 31 (the Russian authorities officially consider it Russian territory). “They understand: if you take the height of Avdeevka, then it will be easier for them to reach Pokrovsk, and so on. Therefore, Avdeevka is extremely important for them,” said Barabash.

The Russian Ministry of Defense, as well as the so-called military forces, cover the last offensive on Avdeevka extremely sparingly. A number of pro-Kremlin bloggers write that the Russian military managed to move forward, while others note that the offensive is slow and difficult.

The representative of the US National Security Council, John Kirby, said the day before that the successes of the Russian military in the offensive, even if they are, look “absolutely meager”, and at the same time, Russia is suffering heavy losses, “throwing a mass of poorly trained soldiers onto the battlefield.” The American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) also came to the conclusion that the Russian military has not yet succeeded, based on an analysis of open sources.

During the past day, as a result of shelling by Russian troops, there have been killed and wounded among the civilians of Ukraine. in the Donetsk region, in the village of Bogatyr, located far from the front, an 11-year-old boy was reportedly killed by shelling from the Smerch MLRS. More than 20 people were injured in the city of Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region. In the Kherson region, in the city of Beryslav, a private residential house was hit by shelling, a woman was killed.