Russian troops are said to have entered the city Abdijivka.
However, they are said to have been pushed back by Ukrainian forces.
– The situation is difficult, but under control, says the city’s mayor Vitalij Barabash, according to AFP.
The Ukrainian city of Avdijivka has been on the front lines between Russia and Ukraine since the invasion in 2014. The battle for the city has become one of the bloodiest since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. The city has gained great symbolic value for the Russian forces and was the subject of a Russian buildup in the fall .
Ukraine has managed to resist the offensive, despite daily attacks. On Wednesday, Russian troops managed to enter the city for the first time, according to the city’s mayor Vitaly Barabash.
– Russian sabotage and reconnaissance groups entered the southern parts of the city but were quickly driven out, he says according to AFP.
No major changes
However, there are no major changes to the front line, according to the American think tank ISW who watches over the war. Both Russian and Ukrainian war bloggers write that fierce fighting is still raging outside the city.
The industrial city of Avdijivka is located in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine and before the war had a population of approximately 32,000 people. Around 1,100 people are said to be staying, according to Kyiv Post.
Ukrainian soldiers have previously compared the situation at the city to a “zombie movie”.
– I am in a civilian hospital because the military hospital is overcrowded, three floors are packed. All are lying without arms or legs, some without various body parts. Mainly they are taken from Avdijivka. In the hospital in Rostov, guys are lying on the floor in the corridor, the soldier says in the call, which independent media could not verify as authentic, a Ukrainian soldier told AFP last fall.