Avdiivka plant's guards prevented Ukrainian soldiers from entering premises

He said this on the Espreso TV channel.

"Avdiivka Coke is a very important strategic facility. This enterprise is bigger than two villages. And now we have a task to fill it with our soldiers, and it should have been done earlier. I saw that there were constant obstacles from the plant's employees and security guards, who prevented the military from entering the plant until the last minute. It is unacceptable that most of the military obeyed these guards when it was necessary to set up combat positions and defense, and this section of the frontline is becoming inaccessible," Shyshuk said.

According to the serviceman, Avdiivka Coke is a key facility in the fight against Russia.

"When there is such a facility on the frontline and we understand that it is there that the enemy is rushing to because it is the key in this confrontation, there should be no obstacles. In my opinion, all the guards who are still there are the future mobilization reserve of our enemy. They are determined to stay there. We will have a situation like in Severodonetsk, when Azot employees stayed with their families in thousands and then fought against us near Bakhmut. In Avdiivka, they all expect to stay and be attached to the so-called DPR," Shyshuk suggested.

The Ukrainian Armed Forces serviceman also added that the guards of Avdiivka Coke cannot be trusted.

"They see the movement of our troops and obstruct them. The situation with the coke plant is so bad. It is possible to gain a foothold on this territory, there are tunnels and reinforced concrete structures that a tank cannot penetrate. And the military, who needed to get there, could not get there. Maybe the owner is not so much interested in this as the locals organized this obstruction. Apparently, the brigades, who have been in this area for a long time, had to make a strong-willed decision and enter the territory earlier," Shyshuk said.

• Analysts at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) write that Ukrainian forces are making progress near Bakhmut and Robotyne and are holding the line near Avdiivka, where the Russian army is conducting ineffective "cannon fodder" assaults.
• The Russian occupiers are trying to encircle Avdiivka in Donetsk region and are using aviation to do so. In return, the Ukrainian Defense Forces inflict significant losses on the enemy: 680 soldiers per day.
• Russian occupiers have already changed their tactics of attacking Avdiivka twice, but still suffer huge losses. At the same time, the Ukrainian Armed Forces' counteroffensive has narrowed to two footholds in southern Ukraine, and air defense system has failed again in Crimea.