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Russia lost 20,000 soldiers in assault on Ukraine's Avdiivka: reports

21.12.2023 07:30
Russia has lost some 20,000 troops while seeking to capture Ukraine's heavily fortified eastern city of Avdiivka since October, according to officials in Kyiv.  
Ukraines Avdiivka after Russian bombing in November 2023.
Ukraine's Avdiivka after Russian bombing in November 2023.National Police of Ukraine, CC BY 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Ukrainian Tavriisk Group of Forces Spokesperson Colonel Oleksandr Shtupun provided the figures in a TV interview on Wednesday, The Kyiv Independent website reported.

Shtupun stated that Russian forces had lost almost 25,000 personnel fighting in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk Oblast since October 10, and that 80 percent of these losses have occurred in the Avdiivka direction. 

Russia has also lost about 200 tanks, and over 400 armoured vehicles in Donetsk province since October 10, the official added.

Russia is currently advancing around the flanks of Avdiivka, Newsweek magazine reported on Wednesday. 

Russian forces reportedly made gains on Wednesday, according to the Institute for the Study of War, a US think tank. 

Ukraine on Wednesday repelled 31 Russian attacks on the "Avdiivka axis," the General Staff in Kyiv said in its evening update. 

The heavily fortified Avdiivka sits just outside the Russian-occupied Donbas city of Donetsk, Newsweek noted. 

Ukraine is defending Avdiivka as its capture could give Russia a route to Kramatorsk, the capital of Ukrainian-controlled part of Donetsk region, the magazine added.

Thursday is day 666 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, launching the largest military campaign in Europe since World War II.

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Source: The Kyiv Independent, Newsweek, ISWThe General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine