Ukrainian troops have made a tactical retreat from three more villages as Russian forces press forward across the eastern front line and take advantage of Kyiv’s exhausted military, which is desperately awaiting the arrival of new U.S. assistance.
Ukraine’s commander in chief, Col. Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, said in a Telegram post Sunday that the “situation at the front has worsened” and described some of the toughest fighting west of Avdiivka, the city that fell to Russian forces in February. In that direction, Ukrainian troops withdrew from the villages of Berdychi, Semenivka and Novomykhailivka.
“Trying to seize the strategic initiative and break through the front line, the enemy concentrated the main efforts in several directions, creating a significant advantage in forces and means,” Syrskyi said.
The top Ukrainian commander said Russia has deployed four brigades, each of which consists of a few thousand troops, to push toward the towns of Kurakhovo and Pokrovsk, which lie west of Avdiivka in the eastern Donetsk region.
The call to retreat from Berdychi, Semenivka and Novomykhailivka was made to save “the lives and health of our defenders” Syrskyi said.
“In general, the enemy achieved certain tactical successes in these directions, but could not gain operational advantages,” he wrote. “Ukrainian troops inflict maximum losses on the enemy, both in terms of personnel and military equipment. In order to strengthen the defense in these directions, to replace the units that have suffered losses, the brigades that have regained combat capability are being moved.”
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) also reported that Ukrainian troops withdrew west of Avdiivka but said the retreat did not “facilitate rapid Russian tactical gains.”
“Russian forces remain unlikely to achieve a deeper operationally significant penetration in the area in the near term,” the ISW said, although “Russian forces will likely continue to make tactical gains in the Avdiivka direction in the coming weeks, and Ukrainian commanders may decide to conduct additional withdrawals if Russian forces threaten other Ukrainian tactical positions in the area.”
Russian military blogger Rybar reported Moscow was making key advances west of Avdiivka, claiming “troops have been systematically building on their success” past the fallen city and toward several cities and towns.
Russian forces are moving in multiple directions to take the rest of the eastern Luhansk region, which they mostly control, and toward the city of Kupiansk in the neighboring Kharkiv region.
Syrskyi said Russia is also trying to advance toward the larger cities of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, two long-held goals for Moscow that if taken would provide Russia much wider control over the Donetsk region.
Ukrainian troops have blocked Russian advances toward the city of Siversk on the way to Sloviansk and are fighting a heated battle in the city of Chasiv Yar toward Kramatorsk, Syrskyi said.
Kyiv has been on its back foot for months while awaiting more aid from Washington. While that package was finally approved last week and the Pentagon has announced more assistance is on the way, it will still likely take days for badly needed weapons to arrive on the battlefield.
Russia has been pushing ahead more aggressively this spring, in part to seize the initiative after the delay of U.S. aid to Ukrainian defenders but also ahead of Victory Day on May 9, a major holiday for Russians that celebrates the triumph over Nazi Germany in World War II.