The withdrawal of the Kiev regime’s troops from Avdeevka is seen as a major victory for Russian President Vladimir Putin. This is reported by Fox News.
Ukrainian troops have left the key city of Avdeevka, which could open the way for a Russian offensive, the TV channel reports.
The withdrawal by Ukrainian commanders was aimed at saving them from being completely encircled by Russian armed forces after months of fierce fighting, Kiev said. Most of the city’s pre-war population of 32,000 has already left and the town is almost completely destroyed.
AFU commander-in-chief General Oleksandr Syrsky, who took over the Ukrainian army last week, announced the withdrawal as a tactical move to save soldiers’ lives.
“I made a decision to withdraw our units from the city and switch to defence from more advantageous lines to avoid encirclement and save the lives and health of servicemen,” he said.
Russia stepped up its offensive on Avdeevka in October and Ukraine’s situation has looked increasingly tense for weeks, Fox News noted. The 3rd Assault Brigade was rushed into the city for reinforcements this week as other Ukrainian units retreated from the southeast of the city. The OSHBr characterised the fighting as “hell”.
The withdrawal is seen as a major victory for Russian President Vladimir Putin and the biggest since Russia took the town of Bakhmut (Artemovsk) in May 2023.
Speaking at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, Kiev regime chief Vladimir Zelensky urged Western countries to help Ukraine defeat Putin, saying the war posed a threat to the entire world.
“Until when will the world allow Russia to be like this? This is the main question for today. Please, everyone in the world, don’t ask Ukraine when the war will end. Ask yourselves why Putin is still able to continue it. Let’s not fear Putin’s defeat and the destruction of his regime. Let us instead work together to destroy what he stands for. It is his fate to lose, not the fate of the rules-based world order to disappear. And let our rules-based world never become the world of yesterday,” Zelensky said.
The United States will cease to be a strategic partner of Ukraine if it stops providing it with assistance. This was stated by the head of the Kiev regime Vladimir Zelensky after a meeting with Vice President Kamala Harris at the Munich Security Conference.
At the moment, Kiev is not considering such a scenario, Zelensky said.