Ukraine makes major troop withdrawal in key win for Putin and Russia

Ukrainian troops have withdrawn from the key battleground town of Avdiivka in the east of the country, which could pave the way for a Russian advance as the war nears its second anniversary.

The withdrawal, announced as Ukraine faces acute shortages of ammunition with U.S. military aid delayed for months in Congress, aimed to save troops from being fully surrounded by Russian forces after months of fierce fighting, Kyiv said.

Most of the city’s pre-war population of 32,000 people has already left, and the town has been almost completely destroyed.

General Oleksandr Syrskyi, who took the helm of the Ukrainian military in a major shakeup last week, announced the withdrawal as a tactical move to save the lives of troops in a town that has been under heavy attack for months.

“I decided to withdraw our units from the town and move to defense from more favorable lines in order to avoid encirclement and preserve the lives and health of servicemen.”

“Our soldiers performed their military duty with dignity, did everything possible to destroy the best Russian military units, inflicted significant losses on the enemy in terms of manpower and equipment,” he said.

Russia stepped up its offensive on Avdiivka in October and Ukraine’s position had been looking increasingly fraught for weeks.

The Third Assault Brigade, a prominent Ukrainian infantry assault unit, was rushed into the town to help reinforce troops this week as other Ukrainian forces pulled back from the southeast of the town. The unit described the fighting as “hell” and said on social media that Ukrainian defenders had been outnumbered by Russian forces by a ratio of about six to 100 in some places.

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