Before daybreak on Saturday, Ukraine ordered the full evacuation of the destroyed city of Avdiivka in eastern Ukraine, giving up a city that has served as a military bulwark for more than ten years in the face of a continuous Russian onslaught and deteriorating bombing.
Ukraine's top military commander, Gen. Oleksandr Syrsky, said in a statement released overnight that he had "decided to withdraw our units from the city and move to defense on more favorable lines, based on the operational situation around Avdiivka, in order to avoid encirclement and preserve the lives and health of servicemen."
Once home to over 30,000 people, Avdiivka is now a blazing ruin. The collapse of Avdiivka represents the first significant victory for Russian forces since May of last year. Russian forces have been pushing the attack over almost the whole 600-mile front in recent weeks.
On Wednesday, Ukrainian forces started to evacuate from areas in the city's south. For several days, they have been fighting a desperate battle to stay out of the city while Russian soldiers have been moving in all directions.
The commander of Ukraine's southern forces, Oleksandr Tarnavskyi, stated that due to the Russians' superior weaponry and willingness to commit a large number of soldiers to the conflict, there was no alternative but to retire.
"This is the only correct solution in a situation where the enemy is advancing on the corpses of their own soldiers, under constant bombardment, with a 10-to-1 shell advantage," the statement read.
Some soldiers posted graphic tales of their perilous and disorganized retreat on social media, or quietly voiced concern in interviews that the order to evacuate had come too late.
The garrison known as Zenit, which is located in a southern section of the city, was evacuated on Thursday, according to Viktor Biliak of the 110th Brigade, which has been defending the city for the previous two years.
Mr. Biliak, who goes by the call sign Hentai, claimed that his unit was denied time to make an orderly withdrawal, including the opportunity to remove weapons and equipment, burn documents, and place mines to obstruct Russian forces.
He added that on Wednesday night, ten men attempted to leave but were unsuccessful. They encountered artillery fire after having to struggle their way forward in a gunfight.
"Only three injured individuals returned," Hentai posted on Instagram. He claimed that on the following morning, he assisted in the perilous daylight rescue of one of the injured troops, a move that cost the unit four additional casualties, including him.
The seriously injured were instructed to wait for an armored vehicle to evacuate them when the army attempted again on Thursday night.
Hentai wrote, "Groups were leaving, one after the other." He chose to lead a group out instead of waiting for the rescue truck while he was still able to walk.
"Outside visibility was nonexistent. It was survival at its most basic. "Across the field, a kilometer away," he wrote. “A drone leading a group of blind cats. enemy weaponry. Our dead bodies are all along the road leading to Avdiivka."
He said that the injured were never taken by the evacuation van. He heard an injured soldier enquiring about the evacuation vehicle over the radio as the last group exited the bunker. In response, the commander said that they should leave the injured behind because no vehicle was approaching.
Hentai writes, "He was unaware that he was speaking to a wounded man." "We were deeply hurt by this radio conversation."
According to them, Ukrainian officers battling in the area were compelled to ration ammunition as the combat for Avdiivka grew more intense. Based on similar reports, White House officials said that the Ukrainians' battle on the ground was being directly hampered by Congress's inability to approve a $60 billion renewal of military aid. In addition, the Ukrainian government is having difficulty raising and enlisting new soldiers to replenish its ranks following two years of bloody combat.
Since Russian-backed terrorists took land in eastern Ukraine in 2014, the city and the surrounding settlements have been on the front lines. However, in October, the Russians intensified their efforts to take the city by mounting massive assaults to encircle the region broadly. Tens of thousands of Russian soldiers were killed and injured as a result of those mostly unsuccessful assaults, according to American and British authorities as well as the Ukrainian military. Russia suffered some of its worst losses of the conflict.
After the Russians took control of the city of Avdiivka early this year, the number of Ukrainian casualties sharply increased. Russia increased its bombardment of the city at the same time, aiming to breach Ukraine's heavily defended defenses.
As the situation worsened, military analysts both inside and outside of Ukraine became concerned that the leadership would make the same error it had made in the past: continuing when it was obvious that all hope was lost and needlessly depleting Ukraine's most precious asset, its people.
Withering Russian bombardment continued Saturday morning as the evacuation from Avdiivka continued. The southern portion of the city was evacuated with "minor losses," according to the Ukrainian military leadership.
However, soldiers' social media posts of films showed how perilous the area had become for mobility. In one video, a number of Ukrainian soldiers are seen riding atop an armored vehicle not far from the famous Avdiivka Coke Chemical Plant, which is located on the northwest outskirts of the city, about half a mile away.
They pass the "Avdiivka is Ukraine" sign at the city's entrance, which gained notoriety after President Volodymyr Zelensky uploaded a self-portrait from it in December. Shortly after, shells explode nearby, causing clouds of dust and dirt, and the men grimace and duck.
The commander of the Third Assault Brigade's 2nd Mechanized Battalion stated on Friday that the Russians had set fire to tanks at the coke plant that held dangerous fuel using incendiary weapons.
He stated in a statement, "When burning, this poisonous substance has extremely severe consequences for our fighters' health and even their lives." The city was covered in billows of poisonous, black fog, which also seeped into the plant, which the Ukrainians had long utilized as a fortification against Russian aggression.
Early on Saturday, it was unknown if the Ukrainian troops who had taken up residence in the factory had also left.
A soldier stationed at the massive industrial complex dating back to the Soviet era, Volodymyr Furayev, said his unit had been told to evacuate. /BGNES
