In a major setback for Ukraine, the country's new army chief on Saturday said that its troops have withdrawn from the devastated eastern town of Avdiivka. This decision has paved the way for Russia's biggest advance since May last year when its forces captured the Bakhmut city.
A major reason behind Ukrainian forces' withdrawal from Avdiivka was because the war-battered country has been facing acute shortages of arms and ammunition with US military aid getting delayed for months, Reuters reported.
The withdrawal was announced to save the Ukrainian troops from getting fully surrounded by the Russian forces following months of fierce fighting, officials in Kyiv said.
As of now, the forces have shifted back to more secure positions outside of the Avdiivka town, which had a population of 32,000 before Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
“I decided to withdraw our units from the town and move to defence from more favourable lines to avoid encirclement and preserve the lives and health of servicemen,” General Oleksandr Syrskyi, who took the helm of the Ukrainian military last week, said in a statement.
According to reports, this decision might provide Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy a stronger case to urge the Western countries for more urgent military aid during his address at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday.
On Thursday, US President Joe Biden had said that Avdiivka was at risk of falling to the Russian side due to the shortage of ammunition shortages following months of Republican congressional opposition to the new military aid package.
Taking over control in Avdiivka is critical to Russia's goal of capturing the two provinces that comprise the industrial Donbas region, and it might give President Vladimir Putin a battlefield win as he seeks re-election next month, Reuters report said.
Moscow stepped up its offensive on Avdiivka in October last year, while Kyiv's positions were looking increasingly fraught over the past few weeks
At present, there are less than 1,000 residents left in the town, which is situated north of the Russian-held Donetsk.
(Edited by : Sudarsanan Mani)
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