Dmytro Lykhoviy, spokesman for the Tavriya operational and strategic group of forces, has told the news telethon that the situation in Avdyiivka, Donetsk Region, is dynamic, with street fighting continuing in the city. Backup logistics routes have been provided in case the main supply route is lost, Interfax-Ukraine quoted him as saying.
"As of now, the situation on the contact line is dynamic and can change literally every hour... In case the main logistics artery is cut by the enemy, our command has provided for backup supply routes," Lykhoviy said.
According to him, street fighting has been going on in Avdiyivka for several days now, and the situation dictates a certain change in combat tactics, while the situation is "tense but controlled".
"In total, the enemy has concentrated about 50,000 troops in the Avdiyivka sector," he said.
He noted that no one is holding on to "piles of stones, piles of burnt iron", and the command's main goal is to save the lives of the soldiers and, in case of complications, to move them to another line: "to act flexibly, to act manoeuvrably in order to preserve these same fighters for the next combat operations, for the liberation of the lost territory".
He noted that in recent days the occupiers have been pounding Pokrovsk District of Donetsk Region, west of Avdiyivka, with artillery and missiles, which "shows what each of these settlements can become after the front line moves a little further west". "That's why it's crucial to hold Avdiyivka, that's why it's crucial to hold every Ukrainian city," he pointed out.
Recently, he denied Russian IPSO on the alleged strike at a training ground with Ukrainian soldiers near Selydove. Lykhoviy noted that the Russians had launched the IPSO even before the strikes on Selydove and the surrounding area. He also noted that there cannot be any "training grounds" within 20 km of the front line.