Ukrainians holding new defensive lines near Avdiivka after repelling five Russian assaults – commander
Ukraine's Defense Forces have consolidated their positions on new defense lines in the Avdiivka sector, commander of the Tavria Operational and Strategic Troop Grouping Oleksandr Tarnavskyi said in a Telegram post on Feb. 19.
In the area of responsibility of the Tavria grouping, Russian troops conducted 26 air strikes, 33 assault actions, and 803 artillery attacks over the past day.
Read also: NATO Admiral on withdrawal of the Ukrainian Defense Forces from Avdiivka
The Ukrainian Armed Forces repelled five enemy attacks near Novobakhmutivka, Lastochkine, and Pervomayske in the Avdiivka sector.
"Here, the Ukrainian military has consolidated its positions on new defense lines and are successfully repelling the Russian occupiers' attempts to develop an offensive," he wrote.
At the same time, in the Maryinka sector, the Defense Forces continue to hold back the enemy near Heorhiyivka, Pobeda, Novomykhailivka, where the enemy, with the support of aviation, tried to break through the defense of Ukrainian troops 18 times.
The Russians tried to attack Ukrainian positions ten times near Robotyne village in the Zaporizhzhya sector. The Russian forces returned to the tactics of small assault groups involving several units of armored vehicles.
"These offensive attempts are being stopped, the enemy is being destroyed on the outskirts of Robotyne," said General Tarnavskyi.
The Russian army lost the following in the Tavria grouping operational area yesterday:
624 Russian soldiers
four tanks
21 armored combat vehicles
four artillery systems
seven vehicles
and an UR-77 demining unit
The Ukrainian military also destroyed a Russian ammunition depot and neutralized or destroyed 239 drones of various types.
Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi reported on Feb. 17 that the Ukrainian army had withdrawn from Avdiivka, Donetsk Oblast, after four months of intense fighting and regular attacks by the Russian troops. This decision was made to avoid encirclement and to save the lives and health of the soldiers.
The commander of the Tavria troop grouping, Oleksandr Tarnavskyi, said that "a number" of Ukrainian soldiers were captured during the withdrawal from Avdiivka.
Read also: Ukraine’s 3rd Assault Brigade units surrounded in Avdiivka, managed to escape
Dmytro Lykhoviy, head of the public relations department of the Tavria grouping, said that the withdrawal of troops from Avdiivka was as successful as the circumstances allowed.
The DeepState analytical portal reported that the Russian military shot six captured Ukrainian soldiers at the Museum position (formerly Zenit military unit) in Avdiivka, who remained there after the Ukrainian army retreated from the town. Four of them were wounded and unable to walk.
In the video with the bodies of Ukrainian soldiers, relatives recognized three wounded who remained at the Zenit position near Avdiivka, investigative outlet Slidstvo.info reported.
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