Ukrainians troops inflict massive losses on Russian forces near front-line Avdiivka, spokesman says
Since the beginning of the Russian offensive on Avdiivka, the losses of the occupation forces in Donetsk Oblast amounted to 6,500 soldiers, the spokesman of the joint press center of the Tavria Defense Forces, Colonel Oleksandr Shtupun has said.
Shtupun gave the latest number of estimated Russian casualties while appearing on Ukrainian national television on Oct. 29.
"If we talk about the number of losses, Avdiivka is the biggest defeat for the Russians," Shtupun said.
“If we count from Oct. 10, the total enemy losses in Donetsk Oblast in the area of responsibility of the Tavria operational-strategic group amount to almost 6,500 people.”
The Ukrainian Armed Forces also destroyed 100 enemy tanks and almost 250 units of other armored vehicles. Over the past day alone, five Russian tanks were destroyed, including a T-90.
There are up to 40,000 Russian troops in the Avdiivka sector, Shtupun said.
Earlier, Shtupun said that since the beginning of the Russian offensive on Avdiivka, the aggressor’s losses in the east have exceeded 5,000 killed and wounded.
On Oct. 28, Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov had a telephone conversation with U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, during which he updated the American colleague on the situation near Avdiivka, noting that the Russian losses in that area had reached 4,000 soldiers.
Russia’s offensive on Avdiivka – What is known
Russian troops intensified their offensive on Avdiivka on Oct. 10, launching massive attacks on the Donbas town.
The head of Avdiiivka’s military administration, Vitaliy Barabash, said that Oct. 10 saw “probably the largest attack on the city in the entire full-scale war,” but the situation was under control.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces said that the Russian military wants to surround Avdiivka, and is throwing a large amount of equipment and personnel into battle.
On Oct. 16, Barabash noted that the Russian occupation forces had stopped shelling Avdiivka, but two people had been killed in shelling west of the town.
On the same day, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces reported in an evening summary that in the Avdiivka sector, Russians conducted unsuccessful assaults with the support of aviation in the vicinity of Avdiivka and Pervomaiske, Donetsk Oblast, but the Defense Forces had managed to repel seven Russian attacks.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy says that the Ukrainian Defense Forces are holding their positions near Avdiivka.
On Oct. 20, the head of Avdiivka's military administration, Vitaliy Barabash, said that Russian troops had launched a new wave of assaults. The situation remains complicated.
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