The village of Lastochkyne west of Avdiivka, which was previously controlled by Ukrainian forces, has been occupied by Russian troops. This is reported by analysts from the DeepState project. The information was confirmed by Stanislav Bunyatov, call sign “Osman,” from the 24th Separate Assault Brigade “Aidar,” and Russian propaganda resources.
According to Bunyatov, Ukrainian units were forced to withdraw from Lastochkyne to preserve personnel and avoid being cut off from logistics routes.
This is happening amid an ongoing Russian offensive in the Avdiivka direction. On 17 February 2024, the Ukrainian Armed Forces announced the withdrawal of units from Avdiivka. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that Russia’s losses there are seven times higher than Ukraine’s. On 19 February, Commander of the Tavria operational group, General Oleksandr Tarnavsky, assured that the Ukrainian military has started digging in at new defense lines.
According to Ukrainian military experts, the new defense line is near a small Vovcha river, 5-10 kilometers west of Avdiivka. Currently, the fighting continues for five villages between the river and Avdiivka.
The occupation of Lastochkyne shows that the Russian offensive continues. Analysts from DeepState warn that the villages of Svitlodarsk and Orlivka may become the next targets. As was reported earlier, despite numerous losses of 900 troops per day on average, Russia manages to mobilize new units and sustainably replace this pace of losses and continue its offensive operations.
Read more:
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- Russia’s decade of war against Ukraine exposes folly of appeasement