MOSCOW, March 5. /TASS/. The troops fighting for Ukraine’s Tavria operational strategic group, including in the Kiev-controlled areas of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), are facing a tough situation, Commander Alexander Tarnavsky said.

"The situation in the Tavria operational strategic group’s zone of operations remains tough but manageable," he wrote on his Telegram channel.

Earlier, Tavria troops surrendered Avdeyevka, a town in the DPR that was one of Ukraine’s main strongholds in the conflict. On February 17, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu informed President Vladimir Putin that Avdeyevka had been taken under full control of the Russian Army.

On March 3, Roman Kostenko, the secretary of Ukraine’s Parliamentary Committee on National Security, Defense and Intelligence, said that Ukrainian forces had to deal with positions unprepared for defense upon retreating from Avdeyevka.