Civilians stream from Avdiivka as Russian attack leaves Ukrainian city in ruins

CNN
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A Ukrainian police officer inspects a half-destroyed building when he suddenly runs to the ground and hides.

“Coming,” he shouted at his partner, in body camera video seen by CNN, as a shell landed nearby. “There will be more.”

There’s not much to the police these days Avdiivka Most of the people who used to live in this front-line city have left. But about 1,600 people remain, and this unit – the White Angels – is there to evacuate them to safety.

“On average, we evacuate four people from Avdiivka every day,” Lieutenant Dmytro Solovey, a member of the unit, told CNN in a phone interview.

the The city was left on the front line When pro-Moscow separatists seized much of the Donbas region, including the nearby city of Donetsk, in 2014, it has come under fire since Russia launched its all-out invasion in February 2022.

But on October 10, Moscow began a concentrated offensive, sending waves of soldiers and armored vehicles while also intensifying its bombardment of the city. The attack on Avdiivka comes as the front lines of the war remain relatively static, with Ukraine’s counteroffensive continuing to move much slower than initially expected.

Some analysts had initially suggested that the Russian move was aimed at forcing Kiev to divert some of the forces it had been using in its attacks along the southern and eastern front lines, but Ukrainian officials say the goal is actually to make progress while Kiev focuses elsewhere. .

“The situation is tense,” Solovey said, explaining that people can no longer leave on their own and must wait to be evacuated. “Because of the increased bombing, people started registering more (to evacuate).”

Many of Avdiivka’s residents had already fled before the full invasion, leaving the city with a pre-war population of about 30,000.

“Most of the people remaining in the city are old people, and most of them are men. They are [stayed because] “They didn’t want to leave their homes,” Solovey explained. “The situation now is bleak. Just so you know, 10 to 15 bombs are being dropped every day.”

Between air and artillery strikes, supply lines to the city were also slowed, forcing Solvi’s unit to intervene.

“Right now, we are the only ones bringing aid. We bring humanitarian aid, bread and medicine.” “We go every day, and there are no days off.”

“There were three grocery stores operating in Avdiivka. Two of them were destroyed by missiles. “Now there is only one small grocery store open,” he added. “There is no place to buy bread, so we bring some bread once a week so people can Get bread.

When people began to leave Avdiivka in 2014, the Ukrainian army moved in and fortified the city and built its defenses, turning it into a stronghold. After nine years and a full-scale invasion, the front line near Avdiivka has barely changed.

A video of the White Angels unit entering the city shows a city covered in yellow and blue. Dozens of Ukrainian flags are scattered on the road, as are crumbling walls, broken windows, and entire buildings, some of which are several stories high, flattened.

“The situation has not changed radically — it is difficult,” the head of the military administration of the city of Avdiivka, Vitaly Barabash, said in a daily update on Wednesday. “The defense line around the city and in the city itself is under constant fire. (The Russians) are shooting with everything they have.”

Air strikes, missiles and artillery are constantly targeting the city and its surroundings. Russia has managed to make small gains west of Krasnohorivka, north of Avidivka, but those marginal advances have come at a high price, and Moscow remains far from its goal.

“Russian forces continue to try to encircle Avdiivka, and are making numerous attempts to storm it,” the Ukrainian National Guard said in an update on Wednesday. He added, “Our soldiers firmly control the line, inflicting heavy losses on the enemy in manpower and equipment.”

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On the ground, the fighting is ongoing and violent.

Barabash explained, “Small arms battles and artillery confrontations continue around the clock.” “The attack continues 24/7”

After losing a significant portion of military equipment, including tanks and armored personnel carriers, in the first few days of the offensive, Russia appears to have turned to a tactic it knows well, the same one it used against Ukrainian forces defending the city of Bakhmut. .

“The enemy is attacking and throwing more and more meat,” Barabash explained. “The Russians have decided to move forward, and they will continue to move forward despite the losses.”

But for those who go to Avdiivka day after day, this is where the comparisons end.

“I don’t think it’s like Bakhmut. Avdiivka is a battle-hardened town, it’s been through a lot,” Solvi said. “People there are used to it.”

While Moscow’s strategy failed to achieve the desired goal, it had a negative impact on Avdiivka. The city’s only hospital is still functioning but is unable to provide advanced care.

“The hospital acts as a stabilization point. Here the condition of patients stabilizes and we transfer them to other cities, where people are provided with more professional assistance,” Solvi explained, adding that there are not enough staff to meet the demand. “There is chief physician Vitaly Sytnyk and up to 10 nurses.”

Aside from the hospital, Avdiivka’s civilian infrastructure has almost disappeared.

“No building is left intact,” Barabash said Wednesday, while Solvi had a similar opinion.

“Everything is destroyed,” the officer said. “In the summer, there were hopes that we might return. There has not been much destruction yet.”

“Now it is an irreversible process. The city is in ruins,” he added.

But while some people stay, Solvi will continue his daily trips to Avdiivka, hoping to ease the suffering and provide some relief.

“I could have been an ordinary cop, shuffling papers in my office. I chose to be a white angel,” he said. “It can be scary. Sometimes the fear gets the best of me, but it goes away and I keep moving forward.