- Russian forces are intensifying their drive to capture the eastern Ukrainian town of Avdiivka, the town’s top official said.
- Meanwhile, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has said another 3,000 of his fighters will be sent to Ukraine
Russian forces are intensifying their drive to capture the eastern Ukrainian town of Avdiivka, the town’s top official was quoted as saying today.
Russian troops have been pressing land and air-based attacks on Avdiivka since mid-October as the focal point of their push through eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region.
This is just as another 3,000 Chechen fighters will be sent to Ukraine, according to their leader Ramzan Kadyrov.
The latest push, reported by Vitaliy Barabash, head of Avdiivka’s military administration, follows reports last week that Ukrainian troops had made some headway in halting and pushing back the Russian advance.
“Things in the Avdiivka sector have become even tougher,” Mr Barabash told the media outlet Espreso TV.
“The intensity of clashes has been increasing for some time.
“The Russians have opened up two more sectors from which they have begun making assaults – in the direction of Donetsk and in the so-called industrial zone. The enemy is attempting to storm the city from all directions.”
Mr Barabash earlier said Ukrainian forces had in recent days pushed back Russian forces near Stepove, a village northwest of Avdiivka, pinning them down near a rail line.
Meanwhile, the 3,000 Chechen fighters to be deployed will will form part of new units of the Russian defence ministry and the Russian National Guard forces.
Kadyrov, who has often described himself as Vladimir Putin’s “foot soldier” and who has at times been a vocal critic of Russia’s performance in the conflict, said on Telegram: “They [the fighters] have the best equipment and modern weapons.
“In addition, the guys are highly combative and very motivated to achieve results.”
In May, Kadyrov said Chechnya, which is a federal republic of Russia, had sent more than 26,000 fighters to Ukraine since the start of the war, including 12,000 volunteers and that at the time 7,000 of them were actively fighting.
Kadyrov’s claims could not be independently verified, and estimates of the Chechen fighters deployed to Ukraine vary.
Earlier this monh, Kadyrov said a large group of Russia’s former Wagner mercenaries, who had played a prominent role in some of the fiercest fighting in Ukraine before their group fell into disarray after a brief mutiny, had also started training with special forces from Chechnya.