This was announced by the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Colonel-General Oleksandr Syrskyi.
"Based on the operational situation around Avdiivka, in order to avoid encirclement as well as save lives and health of the militaries, I decided to withdraw our units from the city and move to defense on more favorable lines," Syrsky reported.
Read more: The UK Defense Intelligence Analyzes russia's Losses in Battles Near Avdiivka
He emphasized that Ukrainian warriors had fulfilled their military duty with dignity, done everything possible to destroy russian military units as well as inflicted significant losses in manpower and equipment on occupiers.
The commander of the Tavria operational-strategic group, Oleksandr Tarnavskyi, reported that in accordance with the order, Ukrainian warriors left Avdiivka and moved to beforehand prepared positions.
He emphasized that this was the only right decision as well as the most important thing was not to allow encirclement in Avdiivka.
"In a situation where enemy is advancing over corpses of their own soldiers with a ten-to-one advantage in shells, under constant bombardment, this is the only right decision. The encirclement was prevented, the personnel was withdrawn, our soldiers took up defense at the designated lines," informed Tarnavsky.
In his turn, the commander of the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade, Andriy Biletsky, noted that his soldiers had done their best and thanked them for their service.
"I thank everyone for their resilience. We retreat to our prepared positions to come back and strike even harder. I am grateful to the command for their balanced decision. The battle continues," the brigade's press service quoted Biletsky.
The commander also thanked the soldiers for "a good fight" in the face of russians' total superiority in manpower, equipment as well as ammunition in Avdiivka.
Earlier Defense Express reported that russians had conducted continuous assaults and used phosphorus bombs in battle for Avdiivka.
Read more: russian Forces Persist in Appropriating Property from Inhabitants of Temporarily Occupied Regions
