photo: BBC

For the Russian occupying forces in the Donbas, the city of Avdiyivka is of strategic importance: they need it to start assault operations in the Vugledar region.

Oleksiy Dmytrashkivskyi, head of the joint press center of the Tavria Defense Forces Directorate, announced this during a nationwide telethon.

“Today the enemy continues active actions, taking Avdiivka and Maryinka by storm. Avdiivka is strategic for them at the moment, in order to start some assault operations in the Vugledar area. The enemy has already been burned there more than once They urgently need to encircle Avdiivka, and the enemy has, in fact, been trying to do it for two weeks now.”– noted Dmytrashkivskyi.

According to Dmytrashkivskyi, there is currently a noticeable decline in Russian activity in the Vugledar direction.

“Instead, the enemy continues to shell our positions. Yesterday they attacked 37 times. During the night, the enemy launched four assaults and 122 bombing raids. Yesterday the enemy lost about three companies of personnel, 15 tank units and 9 units of BMP and other equipment for a total of 46 units”– said the spokesman.

According to him, all this equipment was actually destroyed in the Spartak and Vodyanyi area – it was in this direction that the Russian Federation conducted active military operations on Saturday.

Answering the question to what extent attempts to encircle Avdiivka exhaust the enemy, he said Russia would suffer heavy losses in both personnel and equipment.

“It became known that as of today they are gathering personnel there, recalling the sick and also sending them in the direction of Vugledar. All without success so far. We have certain results. There is a positional struggle – sometimes the enemy takes up a position, then we let’s fight back and take a position somewhere”– noted Dmytrashkivskyi.

Recall that the Russians have already lost two companies of soldiers during the day, trying to encircle Avdiivka.

Also last day, March 18, Russian occupiers bombed Bakhmut, Avdiivka, Kramatorsk, Kostiantynivka in Donbas. Three people died and 17 were injured as a result of the Russian terror.

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