Smoke rises from an area in the direction of Avdiivka, as seen from Donetsk, Russian-controlled Ukraine, Oct. 11, 2023.Ukrainian forces are trying to hold off a major new Russian offensive operation in the strategic city of Avdiivka.
Russia has also launched smaller offensive operations at points all along the front line, intensifying an offensive near the city of Kupiansk, which Ukraine liberated last year, according to Ukrainian troops on the ground. MORE: NATO will hold a major nuclear exercise next week as Russia plans to pull out of a test ban treaty
He said two Russian battalions, numbering around 2,000 men and backed by dozens of tanks and other armored vehicles, had begun the attacks, pushing from the northwest and southwest. A massive artillery and air barrage had preceded the assault and has continued since, with frequent strikes on the city itself.
Ukraine’s general staff claimed over 1,000 Russian troops had been killed and injured since the new offensive operation began.The Institute for the Study of War said Russia had managed to capture roughly 4.52 square kilometers of territory from different directions around Avdiivka in the last three days.
"The Russians have decided that they can already start their own counterattack in direction," Dmitrashkivsky said. "They are taking advantage of the fact that the attention of the whole world is on the events in Israel and they have started an active phase along the entire front line."