Russia sending reinforcements to east Ukraine city after its assault slows, analysts say
KYIV, Ukraine — Russia is throwing more units into its effort to take a key eastern Ukraine city, Western analysts say, after apparent setbacks that have slowed its days-long onslaught.
The attempt to storm Avdiivka, a heavily defended city that stands in the way of Moscow’s ambition of securing control of the entire Donetsk region, is Moscow’s most significant offensive operation in Ukraine since the start of the year, the British Ministry of Defense said Tuesday.
The Kremlin’s push to claim Avdiivka comes after months of fending off Ukraine’s summer counteroffensive, which Kyiv launched some 16 months after Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Both sides are looking for battlefield advantages ahead of winter. They are also looking to secure future weapons supplies for what is shaping up as a protracted war of attrition.
Russian forces deployed to Avdiivka are likely making slow progress and sustaining high casualties in what is proving a costly effort, the British Ministry of Defense said on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
The pace of Russia’s attack on the heavily fortified target has reportedly slowed in recent days since its launch last week, a Washington-based think tank said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin arrives in Beijing for a visit that underscores China’s support for Moscow during its 20-month-old war in Ukraine.
Russian officials made no immediate comment on developments around Avdiivka.
Citing the Ukrainian General Staff, the Institute for the Study of War said Ukrainian forces pushed back 22 Russian attacks Monday, down from 30 reported assaults the previous day. Kyiv officials said Russia mounted up to 60 attacks per day in the middle of last week.
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry said Tuesday that Russia is nevertheless still attempting to encircle the city, with 10 attacks over the previous 24 hours.
The British Ministry of Defense said Russia’s effort to overrun Avdiivka “looks increasingly unlikely in the short term.”
The collapse of an effort to pass Ukraine aid in Congress was months in the making, as a small group of Republicans fought funding for the fight against Russia’s war.
In other developments, Russian forces launched six Shahed drones and one Kh-59 cruise missile over southern regions of Ukraine late Monday, Kyiv authorities said. The Ukrainian Air Force claimed to have intercepted all the targets, with no casualties or destruction reported.
Ukraine’s Air Force and its Special Operations Forces on Tuesday also claimed airstrikes on two helicopter airfields in the Russian-controlled Luhansk and Berdyansk regions.
The special forces claimed to have destroyed nine Russian helicopters, military equipment, an air-defense system, ammunition warehouses and runways. Dozens of Russian military personnel were injured in the attack, which was code-named Operation Dragonfly, a statement said.
Russian authorities did not comment on the report.
It was not immediately possible to verify the two sides’ battlefield claims.
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