Ukraine's Army Chief Orders Retreat From Avdiivka, Says 'Life of Military is Highest Value'

Ukrainian troops have withdrawn from the frontline city of Avdiivka to avoid being encircled, new military chief Oleksandr Syrsky said Saturday, handing Russia its biggest symbolic victory following Kyiv's failed summer counter-offensive.

"Based on the operational situation that has developed around Avdiivka, in order to avoid encirclement and preserve the life and health of military personnel, I decided to withdraw our units from the city and switch to defense on more advantageous lines," wrote Syrsky.

Russia has been trying to capture Avdiivka for months. It is the most significant territorial gain for Russian forces since they seized the eastern city of Bakhmut last May and comes ahead of the second anniversary of the start of the invasion.

"Our soldiers performed their military duty with dignity, did everything possible to destroy the best Russian military units and inflicted significant losses on the enemy."

"The life of military personnel is the highest value. We will return Avdiivka anyway," added Syrsky.

It is Syrsky's first major decision since his appointment on Feb. 8, and he said it was taken to preserve the lives of soldiers and prevent their encirclement.

Ukraine faces mounting pressure on the eastern front because of ammunition shortages, with a $60 billion US military aid package held up in Washington since last year by congressional wrangling.

Gen. Oleksandr Tarnavsky, who commands the Avdiivka area, also announced the retreat of Ukrainian troops to "pre-prepared positions" before Syrsky's statement.

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"In a situation where the enemy is advancing over the corpses of their own soldiers with a ten-to-one shelling advantage, under constant bombardment, this is the only right decision," he posted on Telegram.

"Encirclement was prevented, personnel were withdrawn, and our soldiers took up defence at the designated lines," he added.

Before issuing orders to pull out of Avdiivka, Tarnavsky on Friday said several Ukrainian soldiers had been captured by Russian forces.

Russian troops captured a key fortress in the battleground city Avdiivka on Thursday, forcing Ukrainian troops to fall back hundreds of meters through a gauntlet of artillery and mortar fire.

Infantrymen reportedly from 1st Army Corps had by early evening cleared the Cheburashka Zenit defense complex of all resistance, ending weeks of bloody assaults against a Ukrainian bastion of trenches and fortifications on the south-western outskirts of the city.

Both Russian and Ukrainian media reported Ukrainian troops had evacuated the formidable fortification network first built in 2014 Kyiv following the Kremlin’s first invasion of Ukraine and improved since then.

Ukrainian troops were forced to fight their way out of a near-total encirclement in a bid to reach friendly lines and had to abandon wounded who suffered casualties as they retreated, reports from both sides said.

The battle for the industrial hub, less than 10 kilometres (six miles) north of the Russian-controlled city of Donetsk, has been one of the bloodiest of the two-year war.

Many compare it to the battle for Bakhmut, in which tens of thousands of soldiers were killed.