Hostilities continue west of Avdiivka - Tavria defence forces spokesman

He shared the information on the United News telethon.

Regarding the situation in the Avdiivka direction, he said that all the units of the Ukrainian Defence Forces that were threatened with blocking had been withdrawn to new positions and continued to perform combat missions, "the positions were prepared and fortified."

"The withdrawal was as successful as the circumstances allowed. It was carried out in accordance with one of the plans for one of the scenarios that developed, namely the one when it was decided to give priority to saving the lives of the soldiers and stop active operations within the city of Avdiivka, to move to new positions. There the fighting continues a little west of Avdiivka, with several soldiers taken prisoner," said Lykhoviy.

He also noted that, in the Avdiivka direction, Russian troops are trying to advance towards the village of Lastochkyne.

"14 attacks were repelled there over the last day, and in the Marinka direction the occupiers are trying to gain some success, but they are also not getting any results. In the areas of Novomykhailivka, Heorhiivka and Pobieda, even more attacks were repelled, namely 23," said the spokesman.

Situation in the Zaporizhzhia direction 

Dmytro Lykhoviy also said that, in the Zaporizhzhia direction, Russian troops tried to attack Ukrainian positions west of Verbove and Robotyne 13 times and commented on rumours of losses of positions.

"There were no losses of positions, in particular in the Zaporizhzhia direction, which is the subject of some media coverage, but the enemy suffered significant losses there, which will be reported later. We are restraining the enemy's offensive, inflicting maximum damage, just like in Avdiivka, and the enemy sees no successful," said the spokesman for the Tauride Defence Forces.

• On 18 February, Serhiy Tsehotskyi, an officer of the 59th Separate Motorised Infantry Brigade, noted that Russia used its advantage in artillery and aviation.
• During the four months of the active phase of the Avdiivka defence operation from October 2023 to February 2024, the Ukrainian Defence Forces neutralised over 47,000 Russian troops and 1,365 pieces of equipment.
• On 18 February, the Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, Lieutenant Admiral Rob Bauer of the Royal Netherlands Navy, said that from a military point of view, Russian troops had not gained Avdiivka, but a few hundred metres of territory.