Avdiivka, to the northwest of Donetsk city, remains the scene of some of the heaviest fighting as Russian forces continue their push from the north into the center of town.
Even so, the DeepState mapping site suggests Russian forces are perhaps no more than several hundred meters away from the main supply route into town.
Serhii Tsekhotskyi, an officer with the 59th Separate Motorized Infantry Brigade, told Ukrainian television that Russia was deploying large numbers of troop into the battle for Avdiivka.
Lying just a few kilometers north of Donetsk airport, captured by Russian forces in early 2015 after months of periodically heavy fighting, Avdiivka has been firmly in Moscow’s crosshairs ever since.
East of Kupiansk and the Oskil river, along the northernmost stretch of the battle, an army spokesman told Ukrainian television on Saturday that Russian forces were pressing.
Persons:
Oleksandr Tarnavskyi, Serhii, “, ”, Boris Rozhin, Bakhmut, Avdiivka, Moscow’s crosshairs, Volodymyr Zelensky, Oleksandr Syrskyi, Syrskyi, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Chasiv Yar
Organizations:
CNN, Russian, Motorized Infantry Brigade, Avdiivka, Presidential Press Service, Reuters, Land Forces, Storm
Locations:
Ukraine, Kyiv, Donetsk, Russia, Avdiivka, Kharkiv, Ukrainian, Kupiansk, Bakhmut