Vitaly Barabash

As tensions escalate in eastern Ukraine, reports emerge of a major Russian offensive targeting the city of Avdiivka. Vitaly Barabash, the mayor of Avdiivka, has issued a stark warning, describing the situation as dire and the assault by Russian forces as significant.

Large numbers of Russian forces are pushing to capture the frontline Ukrainian town of Avdiivka, its Ukrainian mayor said yesterday, escalating a months-long effort to capture the industrial hub.

Moscow launched a costly bid in October to seize the town, which has been caught up in fighting since 2014, when it briefly fell to Moscow-backed separatists.

The mayor of Moscow, Sergei Sobyanin, announced that the Russian Air Defense Forces had destroyed a drone launched by Ukrainian forces towards the Russian capital.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that the foreign ministers of the Alliance members reiterated their determination to support Ukraine on its way to the Alliance, as well as its defense in the war with Russia.

In the city in the Donetsk region, located about 90 kilometers from Bakhmut, there are still about 2,000 civilians left, out of the 30,000 who lived in that city before the war.
"I'm sorry to say this, but Avdivka looks more and more like a place from post-apocalyptic movies," wrote the head of the city's military administration Vitaly Barabash on the Telegram channel.