Russia plans to reach administrative borders of Donetsk region by year-end – Avdiivka official

The head of the Avdiivka City Military Administration, Vitaliy Barabash, stated this on Ukrainian Radio.

"They have set another date for reaching the administrative borders of Donetsk region. Now it is December 31. That is, they are tasked with reaching the administrative borders of Donetsk region by the end of the year," he said.

According to the official, Russian troops understand that if Avdiivka is occupied, it will be easier for them to reach Pokrovsk and other settlements. That is why it is important for them to "take the heights" of the city.

The situation in Avdiivka, Donetsk region

Barabash also explained why Avdiivka is strategically significant for Russia.

"Firstly, it is very close to Donetsk. There are just over 6 kilometers between the outermost streets of Avdiivka and Donetsk. And the most important thing is that it is a strategic height. The whole of Avdiivka and most of the surrounding areas are dominant heights, and that is why it is critical for us. They want to capture these heights. To prevent us from controlling a very serious section of the frontline near Donetsk. This is more than 50 kilometers of the front line. Moreover, this is the front line that is close to Donetsk," said Barabash.

He also added that the Russian forces want to distract the attention of the Ukrainian Defense Forces and prevent them from redeploying Ukrainian forces to other areas. At the same time, Russian invaders have problems in the Bakhmut and Zaporizhzhia sectors. Thus, they are trying to "shackle" Ukrainian forces in the Avdiivka sector.

"Another significant thing for them is that they were waiting for the main blow of our counter-offensive to hit Donetsk. There was a lot of such information in their Telegram channels. And they are now presenting it as if they had prevented the likely main blow of the counter-offensive on the ‘capital’, that they had launched these offensive actions first.  

And, probably, one of the most important things for them was that they needed at least some kind of "victory". Because lately they have not been doing well with this. And that's why they chose Avdiivka, which has been around since 2014, but is unbreakable, which they cannot take, no matter what they have done over the years. Nothing works for them," said the head of the Avdiivka administration. 

At the same time, he noted that the occupiers have not managed to take any strategic heights, so they are simply "erasing" Avdiivka.

"There are a lot of troops on the other side. And they are now trying to compensate for all their failures on the battlefield with a large number of air and artillery strikes on the city. The city is really being wiped out," said Barabash. 

Russian offensive on the key city of Avdiivka in eastern Donetsk region

On October 11, the Institute for the Study of War noted that the Russian occupying army had intensified its offensive around Avdiivka in the Donetsk region. The city has been a frontline one for almost 10 years, and now Russian troops are trying to encircle it.

The Ukrainian General Staff reported that in the Avdiivka direction, the Ukrainian Armed Forces repelled 10 attacks near Avdiivka and another 8 attacks east of Stepove and southeast of Sieverne in the Donetsk region.

The head of Avdiivka City Military Administration, Vitaliy Barabash, reported shelling of Avdiivka, Donetsk region, which killed an elderly man and wounded two civilians.

On October 12, experts of the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) named the real reasons for the Russian offensive on Avdiivka.

Vitaliy Barabash, head of the Avdiivka City Military Administration, noted that Russian troops are trying to concentrate their forces north of the city, launching assault operations.

On October 13, the ISW reported that in three days, Russian troops had captured 4.52 square kilometers of territory from different directions near Avdiivka. The occupying Russian army suffered significant losses in equipment and manpower.