A senior Ukrainian commander reported on Friday “fierce fighting” and the sending of reinforcements to hold Avdiivka, a town in eastern Ukraine where the situation has deteriorated considerably in the face of increased Russian assaults since October .
Information to remember
⇒ The town of Avdiivka, in eastern Ukraine, has become the epicenter of the fighting: the Ukrainian army is in great difficulty there
⇒ The European Union will have to “double” its military aid to Ukraine, faced with the blocking of American aid
⇒ Volodymyr Zelensky is going to Berlin and Paris this Friday to sign bilateral security agreements
“Critical” situation in Avdiivka
“Heavy fighting is taking place in the town” of Avdiivka, Oleksandr Tarnavskiy, a senior Ukrainian commander responsible for forces in the east of the country, said on social media on Friday. Ukraine risks having to abandon this city, now largely destroyed, faced with a growing lack of resources. According to the Ukrainian authorities, the Russian army is increasing its assault waves, despite very significant human losses since October, a situation reminiscent of the Battle of Bakhmut, which Moscow conquered in May 2023 after 10 months of fighting at the cost of dozens of thousands of dead or injured.
Avdiivka, which briefly fell in July 2014 into the hands of separatists led by Moscow, returned to Ukrainian control and remained so, despite the Russian invasion and its proximity to Donetsk, a stronghold of Russia’s supporters for 10 years.
“Our troops are using all available forces and means to contain the enemy,” Oleksandr Tarnavskiy said. Thursday February 15, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky promised to do “everything possible” to save his struggling troops on the eastern front, in particular in Avdiivka, where the situation was described as “critical” the day before by the military and the United States.
The EU will have to “double” its aid in the face of the American blockade
The European Union will have to double its military aid to Ukraine to compensate for the failure of the United States, a new envelope for which has been blocked for months in Congress, the German research institute Kiel Institute warned this Friday.
“It is highly uncertain whether the United States will send additional military aid in 2024,” estimates the institute, which lists the military, financial and humanitarian aid promised and delivered to Ukraine since the Russian invasion on the 24 February 2022.
Zelensky in Berlin and Paris on Friday
The Ukrainian president is traveling this Friday, February 16 to Berlin and then to Paris to sign bilateral security agreements and plead in favor of an increase in military support. A few days before the second anniversary of the Russian invasion and after the failure of its 2023 counter-offensive, Ukraine is facing multiple challenges: Russian forces on the offensive, blocked American military aid, lack of men, weapons and ammunition.