Stay informed with free updates
Just sign up to War in Ukraine myFT Digest: delivered straight to your inbox.
Ukraine’s new commander-in-chief, General Oleksandr Syrsky, has ordered his forces to retreat from the key eastern town of Avdiivka, underlining the importance of preserving the lives of his outnumbered troops.
“Based on the operational situation around Avdiivka, in order to avoid encirclement and preserve the life and health of the military, I decided to withdraw our units from the city and move to defense on more favorable lines,” Syrsky said in a statement posted on Facebook. Saturday, shortly after midnight.
The withdrawal from Avdiivka will hand the Kremlin its first major battlefield victory and territorial conquest since the destruction and capture of the city of Bakhmut in May 2023.
Ukrainian units in Avdiivka have been forced to drastically reduce their firepower in recent weeks due to Western artillery ammunition shortages. The United States has struggled to deliver its promised $60 billion aid package despite congressional opposition.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed 10-year bilateral defense agreements with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin and President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Friday that aim to increase support for Ukraine.
Zelensky in Paris said: “I am sure that these agreements in Europe will help the process in the United States by encouraging them [lawmakers] prioritize aid to Ukraine over electoral considerations.”
Before the withdrawal announcement, Oleksandr Tarnavskyi, commander of Ukraine’s southeastern sector, said Russia was “using all reserves in its assault” on the industrial city that serves as a key gateway to the city of Donetsk , controlled by Moscow.
He said “many of our soldiers were captured” in Friday’s battle. “The evacuation of the wounded is complicated by the continuous bombing, but it is carried out.”