Ukraine Map Shows Avdiivka Almost Fully Encircled by Russia's 40K Troops

Russian forces are encircling Avdiivka, a new war map shows, as Moscow is said to have accumulated around 40,000 troops for a fresh assault on the eastern Donetsk town.

The Institute for the Study of War, a U.S.-based think tank, published a new map on Thursday, showing Russian advances around Avdiivka.

Russian forces launched a major offensive on the frontline town in October. Avdiivka has been the target of Moscow's forces' aggression since 2014, when Russian President Vladimir Putin illegally annexed the southern Crimean peninsula from Ukraine. Newsweek has contacted Russia's Defense Ministry for comment via email.

Beginning on October 10, Russia has poured in thousands of troops, as well as tanks and armored vehicles, in an attempt to seize the town, which has been described as the gateway to the city of Donetsk.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has described the situation around Avdiivka as "particularly tough."

Anton Kotsukon, spokesperson for the 110th separate mechanized brigade, said Thursday that Russia is building up reserves for a fresh push to seize Avdiivka.

"They've brought in about 40,000 men here along with ammunition," Kotsukon added. "We see no sign of the Russians abandoning plans to encircle Avdiivka."

Kotsukon said Russian troops have surrounded Avdiivka on three sides and were playing cat and mouse and sending up huge numbers of drones to analyze Kyiv's defenses.

The ISW said Russian forces have been committing more manpower and material to deliberate and larger-scale offensive operations near Avdiivka. They continued offensive operations in the town's direction on Thursday and reportedly advanced.

"Several Russian milbloggers claimed that Russian forces made gains near Stepove (6km [3.7 miles] northwest of Avdiivka) and are consolidating new positions near the settlement," the think tank said. "Russian sources additionally claimed that Russian forces advanced up to 1km beyond the railway line about 3km [1.9 miles] away from Berdychi (4km [2.5 miles] northwest of Avdiivka)."

The ISW posted that one milblogger has said that Russian forces now hold positions within a third of a mile of Avdiivka itself. Ukrainian Tavriisk Group of Forces Spokesperson Colonel Oleksandr Shtupun said that Russian forces have increased their use of aviation in the town's direction over the past few days. They are using Ka-52 and Mi-8 helicopters and Su-25 attack aircraft.

Ukrainian forces did not conduct any claimed or confirmed ground attacks in the Avdiivka direction on Thursday, the think tank added.

General Oleksandr Tarnavskyi, the head of Ukraine's southern group of forces, said troops around Avdiivka were "stoutly holding their defenses," Reuters reported.

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