Russia-Ukraine war live: Fighting intensifying around Avdiivka, officials say, as Russia launches biggest offensive in months

Social media video by Ukrainian military commander shows smoke in Avdiivka

Video posted on social media by Maskym Zhorin, a Ukrainian military commander, showed smoke pouring from the shells of shattered, abandoned apartment buildings in the eastern town of Avdiivka. Empty streets were littered with rubble and smashed installations, Reuters reports.

Kyiv says Moscow has redirected many soldiers and large amounts of equipment to the Avdiivka area, showing it can hit back over four months into a Ukrainian counteroffensive in the east and south that has encountered stiff Russian resistance.

Ukrainian special operations forces said Kyiv’s troops had “foiled the plans of the crazed enemy, repelled all attacks and held their positions”.

Avdiivka, which is home to a big coking plant in the south-west of the Donetsk region and lies just northwest of the Russian-held city of Donetsk, has become a symbol of resistance, holding out against Russian troops who invaded Ukraine in February 2022, and helping ensure Moscow has been unable to gain full control of the region even though it says it has annexed it.

Ukrainian forces had been defending Avdiivka since long before last year’s invasion, holding the line against Russian-backed militants who took control of territory in east Ukraine in 2014 after Russian forces seized Crimea. Just over 1,600 residents of a pre-war population of 32,000 remain, but shelling ruled out a mass evacuation, Barabash said.

The attack on Avdiivka is one of the few big offensives Moscow has launched in months as its troops focus on holding back Kyiv’s counteroffensive, which has made slow progress through vast Russian minefields and heavily fortified trenches.

Russia’s defence ministry said its forces had inflicted damage on Ukrainian forces in areas including Avdiivka but gave few details.

Oleksandr Shtupun, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s southern group of forces, said Russia saw Avdiivka as an opportunity to win a significant victory and “turn the tide of fighting”.

He said:

Today the capture or encirclement of Avdiivka is probably the most it can achieve at this stage.

Smoke rises from the area in the direction of Avdiivka, as seen from Donetsk this week. Photograph: Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters