MOSCOW, February 14. /TASS/. The Ukrainian army’s command has envisaged alternative supply routes for the battlegroup in Avdeyevka in case they lose control over the main supply route, Dmitry Likhovoy, the spokesperson for Ukraine’s Tavria operational-strategic group told the Rada TV channel.
"Just in case the main logistical artery is cut off by the enemy, our command has envisaged alternative supply routes," he said when asked how real of a possibility it was that Ukrainian troops may lose control over supply routes to Avdeyevka.
Likhovoy also remarked that he could not talk about the movement of forces in real time, saying only that the situation in Avdeyevka is "tense" for Ukrainian forces. "Street fighting has been going on in Avdeyevka for several days now," he added.
The spokesman stressed that Ukrainian forces would continue efforts to hold Avdeyevka. "It is important for us to hold Avdeyevka," he said when asked why Ukrainian troops were not withdrawing from the city.
Situation in Avdeyevka
On Wednesday night, Ukraine’s Strana media outlet quoted Ukrainian military public documents as saying that the situation in Avdeyevka had deteriorated significantly for Ukrainian troops, and that they might be cut off from supplies. The army’s new Commander-in-Chief, Alexander Syrsky, and Defense Minister Rustem Umerov visited the Avdeyevka area and stated the difficult situation on the ground.
On Monday, Forbes magazine reported that the Ukrainian armed forces were planning to engage one of their best brigades to hold the front line in Avdeyevka. According to Forbes, Valery Zaluzhny being replaced by Alexander Syrsky as the armed forces’ commander-in-chief might signal Zelensky's intention to fight for the city "at all costs." Syrsky, unlike Zaluzhny, has a reputation for being a commander who does not let heavy losses on the battlefield deter him.
On February 2, Zaluzhny, the commander-in-chief at that point, briefed Zelensky on the difficult situation in the area of Avdeyevka. It had been turned by Ukrainian troops into one of the main fortified areas during the conflict in Donbass. In late December 2023, Zaluzhny said that Ukrainian troops might have to leave Avdeyevka in two to three months.