Russia focuses on west of Avdiivka as it consolidates control of area

Russia has consolidated its advance into Avdiivka, which it claimed control over on the 17th February 2024, the latest reports say.

According to the UK’s Ministry of Defence, Russian forces are focusing on territory west of Avdiivka and have advanced 6km from the centre of the town since they announced their victory over the area. 

The report also noted that Russia has taken control over several villages in the area that have confirmed Russian positions around the town. 

Ukrainian army chief Oleksandr Syrskyi, who was appointed on February 8th by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said that he has taken measures to rectify ‘miscalculations’ made by commanders when it came to defending the area from Russian forces. 

He also announced that Russia is trying to seize the towns and villages of Tonenke, Orlivka, Semenivka, Berdychi and Krasnohorivka in the eastern Donetsk region- areas where Ukrainian forces planned to form a new line of defence. 

Russian forces have focused shelling in eastern and southeastern Ukraine aiming to exploit their current advantage in weapons and troops over Kyiv.  

Though Russia’s gains have been small, slow and costly, Ukraine doesn’t have enough reservists and has a severe shortage of artillery shells as the supply of military aid from Western partners has waned.

A major question for Kyiv officials is how they can unlock further military help from their partners. Emergency U.S. national security funds for Ukraine are still on hold amid a political dispute in Washington.

Ukrainian parliamentary Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk addressed an open letter to U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, asking him to put to a vote the Biden administration’s proposal to send $60 billion of aid to Ukraine.

The letter Stefanchuk posted on X, formerly Twitter, on Wednesday was also signed by 23 speakers and heads of parliament in European countries.

Eight Ukrainian civilians, including a 6-year-old girl, were killed, and at least 12 people were wounded in the southeast over the previous 24 hours, the Ukrainian president’s office said Thursday.