Russia deploys about 40,000 troops near Avdiivka

Colonel Oleksandr Stupun, spokesman for the Tavria Defence Forces, stated this during a telethon.

“Russian enemy keeps the same number of personnel somewhere around the frontline. He uses equipment from the depths, meaning he tries not to keep it on the frontline because our soldiers destroy it almost immediately. The infantry is hiding in the trenches. In the Avdiivka sector, there are about 40,000 of them," he noted.

Over the last day, 13 January, in the Tavria direction, the Ukrainian Armed Forces neutralized 437 militants and 60 pieces of military equipment, including a tank, 11 armored vehicles and 10 artillery systems. In addition, the Ukrainian Armed Forces managed to destroy a Russian TOR anti-aircraft system.

In particular, Stupun said that Russia continues to actively use drones at the frontline. Yesterday, the Defence Forces destroyed 27 Russian drones.

• On 14 January, the spokesperson for the Southern Ukrainian Defence Forces, Natalia Humeniuk, said that  Russia had concentrated about 10,000 troops in the area of Krynky.