More than 30,000 people lived in Avdijivka, located near the front line, before the war broke out. Now the town has just over a thousand inhabitants.
In Ukraine, the fiercest fighting in recent months has taken place around the city of Avdijivka.
Last week, the mayor of Avdijivka admitted to the news agency AFP that the Russians had broken into the city for the first time. According to the mayor, however, the Russian troops managed to be pushed out of the city.
On Tuesday, the British Broadcasting Corporation The BBC, on the other hand, reportedthat the Russian troops have advanced to the outskirts of the town of Avdijivka.
Head of the military administration of Avdijivka Vitaly Barabaš told the BBC that it was only small sabotage units and not larger forces.
– They did advance, but Soborna street, which everyone is talking about, is in our possession. We pushed them away, Barabaš told the BBC.
Now the president Vladimir Putin claiming that Russia has breached the city’s defenses.
– Our forces have taken over 19 houses that they hold, Putin said in a television interview today, Wednesday.
You can see the current frontline situation on the map below.
War came to Avdijivka already in 2014, when Russian-backed Ukrainian separatists took over the city momentarily. Since then, peace has not returned to the city.
The consequences have been dire. Of the 30,000 inhabitants before the wars, there were only about 1,650 left in the summer, and now there are just over a thousand of them left.
400 people have fled since October, when Russia launched its major attack on the city.
Interviewed by the BBC Victor says he left town after the fighting intensified because his wife is very ill.
– It’s unbearable there. I had to leave to save my wife, Victor told the BBC.
However, police forces evacuating civilians told the BBC that not all residents want to leave the war-torn city. The police force showed the BBC a video they filmed a month ago, in which they begged the elderly lady to evacuate. Several missiles had just hit the woman’s house.
– Let me die here, the woman answered the evacuation forces in a muffled voice.
Many Ukrainians think that those who stay in the war-torn cities are pro-Russian. According to the BBC, that may be true in some cases, but hardly any more in Avdijivka’s conditions, where death can strike at any moment.
Source: Reuters