After Ukrainian troops withdrew from the ruined town of Avdiivka on February 17, Russian forces have been pushing to capture further settlements in Ukraine’s partly occupied eastern Donetsk region.
As the war enters its third year, the Russian army has been deploying overwhelming amounts of artillery and manpower in an effort to seize Tonenke, Orlivka, Semenivka, Berdychi and Krasnohorivka — villages that form a new Ukrainian line just west of Avdiivka.
Russian progress is slow and costly, but officials say the Ukrainian army is having trouble stabilizing its positions as military supplies from Western allies falter.
The new Ukrainian commander-in-chief, Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, traveled to the front to get an overview of the situation and accused several commanders of misjudgments that put the Ukrainian units in a tight spot.
Syrskyi said Russian units had been pushed out of Orlivka again and that additional reserves and ammunition had been allocated to “improve the situation” amid fierce fighting.
According to both Ukrainian and Russian reports, 19 Russian soldiers were killed and 12 injured near Olenivka south of Donetsk city on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, in the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, Russian forces are trying to retake the towns of Verbove and Robotyne, which Ukraine recaptured during last year’s otherwise underwhelming summer counteroffensive.
In the southern Kherson region, Ukrainian special forces confirmed they suffered heavy losses at an undisclosed location. Russian reports suggest an attempted Ukrainian amphibious landing involving five motorboats near the Tendra headland was thwarted.
Ukrainian authorities said on Thursday that eight more civilians, including a six-year-old girl, had been killed and at least 12 injured in the south-east of the county in the past 24 hours.
