Russian forces have pushed towards the frontline by the Donetsk town of Avdiivka as the latest map of their offensive shows their marginal gains amid reports of high troop losses.
This strategically important and fiercely contested town lies right on the front line in eastern Ukraine and has been described as the gateway to the city of Donetsk, which has been occupied by Russia and its proxy forces since 2014.
Russia launched a major offensive on the town earlier this month and fighting has intensified in recent days with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky describing the situation as “particularly tough.”
British defense officials have said the Russian assaults in Avdiivka have contributed to “a 90 percent increase in Russian casualties” recorded by Ukraine.
Russian investigative website Agentstvo, citing data from Dutch open-source intelligence defense analysis website Oryx, said on Monday that one in 10 Russian equipment losses since Kyiv launched its counteroffensive in June had occurred in the previous 10 days, coinciding with intensifying clashes in Avdiivka.
Institute for the Study of War
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a U.S.-based think tank, said on Monday that Russia’s forces had made confirmed advances northeast of Avdiivka as Russian sources said that troops had moved forward just over a mile in the area in the past few days.
The ISW noted claims from Russian military bloggers that Ukrainian forces had counterattacked near Avdiivka and also near the waste heap northwest of the town which is a contested “gray zone” but did not make any confirmed advances.
The think tank’s daily maps outline the situation on the ground and its graphic on Monday indicates how geolocated footage showed Russian advances southwest of Krasnohorivka and neighboring Stepove, both located north of Avdiivka.
The ISW also noted other claims and counterclaims from Russian sources, with one saying on Sunday that Moscow’s forces had broken through to the waste heap and railway near Stepove and pushed Ukrainian forces back. A Ukrainian source said Russian troops had advanced within 3 miles and southwest of Avdiivka.
The ISW said earlier this month that Russian forces were focused on the area in order to stop Ukrainian forces from redeploying to other areas of the front. However, Kyiv was aware of this move and so were unlikely to unduly commit manpower to this axis. Newsweek has contacted the Russian Defense Ministry for comment.
The reported high Russian losses in the fight for the town come as the British Defense Ministry said that the since the start of the war, Moscow has suffered up to 190,000 permanent casualties, comprised of those killed and wounded.
Those figures did not include troops from the mercenary Wagner Group, which was headed by Yevgeny Prigozhin until he died in a plane crash in August.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.