Russia has declared victory in the months-long battle for Avdiivka in the eastern Donetsk region of Ukraine after wresting control of the town’s vast coke plant from retreating forces.
“Within the context of offensive operations in Avdiivka, the central battlegroup has assumed full control of the coke plant,” Russia’s defense ministry said in a Feb. 19 statement.
Russian media showed what appeared to be Ukrainian flags being removed from the coke plant—and other buildings in Avdiivka—before being replaced with those of the Russian Federation.
In an earlier statement released by the Kremlin, Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated troops who took part in the operation, which he hailed as an “important victory.”
If confirmed, the development would be Russia’s most significant battlefield victory since its forces overran the nearby city of Bakhmut in May last year.
Kyiv has yet to issue a statement regarding the Russian claims.
On Feb. 17, Ukrainian Col. Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, Kyiv’s new military commander, announced that he had ordered Ukrainian troops to withdraw from Avdiivka “to avoid encirclement and preserve the lives of servicemen.”
The capture of Avdiivka, known as Avdeyevka in Russian, would bring Moscow one step closer to asserting full control over the Russian-speaking Donbas region, which has long been a key Russian objective.
According to Russia’s defense ministry, the town’s capture has brought roughly 20 additional square miles of territory under Russian control.
Russia invaded Ukraine two years ago with the stated aim of protecting Russian speakers in Donbas and preempting the further eastward expansion of NATO.
Seven months later, Moscow unilaterally annexed Donetsk and Luhansk, which together comprise the Donbas region, along with Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.
Since then, it has regarded all four regions as Russian Federation territory.
Ukraine and its NATO allies reject the annexations as illegal land grabs, while Kyiv has vowed to continue fighting until all four regions are recovered.
Resistance Turns Futile
Fighting has raged in and around Avdiivka since October 2023, with Russian forces seeking to encircle the town and the Ukrainian troops that remained there.In recent weeks, Russian forces effectively surrounded it on three sides, prompting even U.S. officials to issue warnings about its increasingly dire situation.
In an uncharacteristic admission on Feb. 15, White House national security spokesman John Kirby warned that Avdiivka stood on the verge of “falling into Russian control.”
Russian forces in the contested town, he said, were “beginning to overwhelm Ukrainian defenses.”
Last week, Kyiv rushed its elite 3rd Assault Brigade to Avdiivka in hopes of forestalling the loss of the town.
Comprised mainly of infantry units, the brigade took part in a major Ukrainian counteroffensive last year that fell short of achieving its territorial aims.
It also took part in last year’s months-long fight for Bakhmut, which sits roughly 30 miles north of Avdiivka.
Maksym Zhorin, the brigade’s deputy commander, said the fight for Avdiivka was fiercer than that for Bakhmut, due to superior Russian firepower and troop numbers.
A Ukrainian military spokesman recently put the number of Russian troops in Avdiivka at some 50,000, including frequently rotated tactical assault groups.
Facing a relentless Russian advance backed by both artillery and aircraft, the brigade was quickly forced to withdraw to the town’s outskirts.
“The Russians aren’t slowing down their assault,” the brigade said in a Feb. 18 social media post.
Kyiv admits its forces took significant casualties during their withdrawal from the town while insisting the situation has since been brought under control.
Moscow: Ukrainians Routed
Russian officials, meanwhile, have described the Ukrainian retreat as rushed and chaotic, with soldiers leaving weapons, equipment, and even wounded colleagues behind.According to Russia’s defense ministry, Ukrainian troops began fleeing the town—in a state of disorder—some 24 hours before Kyiv issued the order to withdraw.
“The order ... to abandon the town was issued a full day after the uncontrolled flight of Ukrainian troops actually began,” a ministry spokesman said on Feb. 18.
On the last day of the retreat from Avdiivka, Ukrainian forces sustained more than 1,500 casualties, according to the ministry’s estimates.
The Epoch Times could not independently verify claims made by either side.
In 2014, Avdiivka was briefly captured by pro-Russian separatists when they overran a significant portion of the Donbas region.
But it was soon retaken by Ukraine’s army, which began building trenches and fortifications in and around the strategic town.
Since then, Russia has accused Ukrainian forces deployed in Avdiivka of using the town as a staging ground to shell civilian areas of Donetsk city, capital of the region of the same name.
Held by Russian forces since 2022, Donetsk city is located roughly 10 miles south of Avdiivka.
During the recent fight for the town, most of the fortifications in Avdiivka were damaged—or destroyed entirely—by Russian aircraft and artillery barrages, according to Russia’s defense ministry.
