A Ukrainian official has denied a recent New York Times report that Russian forces had captured “hundreds” of Ukrainian soldiers.
The head of the Russian General Staff, General Valery Gerasimov, claimed that Russian forces had seized Avdiivka in a “fairly short time”preceded by a “long preparation period”.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu also tried to downplay the heavy Russian losses and the difficulty of the capture of Avdiivka during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 20, presenting the capture of Avdiivka as an incredible success with minimal losses despite the fact that the four-month operation resulted in estimated losses of between 16,000 and 47,000 people on the Russian side, says the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
The think tank adds: “Russian forces have recently made marginal advances northwest of the city and have likely completed operations to clear the city.”
Positional fighting continued northwest of Avdiivka, near Stepove and Lastochkyne; west of Avdiivka, near Sieverne; and southwest of Avdiivka, near Pervomaiske and Nevelske.
A Russian blogger claims that Russian forces are trying to build and stabilize a new defense line in the Avdiivka direction.
A Ukrainian official denied a recent New York Times report that Russian forces had captured “hundreds” of Ukrainian soldiers during Ukraine’s withdrawal from Avdiivka, claiming that Russian forces did capture some Ukrainian soldiers during the withdrawal, but stating that reports of “hundreds” of Ukrainian soldiers taken prisoner or missing are false.
The ISW has yet to observe any evidence that Russian forces have taken large numbers of Ukrainian soldiers prisoner.