Ukraine forced to withdraw from more villages as Russia steps up pressure

Ukrainian troops have made a tactical withdrawal from three more villages as Russian forces advance across the eastern front line and take advantage of Kiev’s exhausted military, which desperately awaits the arrival of new US aid.

Ukraine’s commander-in-chief, Colonel-General Oleksandr Syrskyi, said in a Telegram post on Sunday that the “situation at the front has worsened” and described some of the toughest fighting west of Avdiivka, the town that fell to the Russian forces in February. In this direction, Ukrainian troops withdrew from the villages of Berdychi, Semenivka and Novomykhailivka.

“Trying to seize the strategic initiative and break through the front line, the enemy concentrated the main efforts in several directions, creating a significant advantage in forces and means,” Syrskyi said.

The top Ukrainian commander said Russia sent four brigades, each consisting of a few thousand soldiers, to advance towards the cities of Kurakhovo and Pokrovsk, which lie west of Avdiivka in the eastern Donetsk region.

The call for the withdrawal of Berdychi, Semenivka and Novomykhailivka was made to save “the lives and health of our defenders,” Syrskyi said.

“In general, the enemy achieved certain tactical successes in these directions, but failed to gain operational advantages,” he wrote. “Ukrainian troops inflict maximum losses on the enemy, both in terms of personnel and military equipment. To strengthen the defense in these directions, to replace units that suffered losses, brigades that have regained combat capability are being moved.”

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) also reported that Ukrainian troops withdrew west of Avdiivka, but said the withdrawal did not “facilitate rapid Russian tactical gains.”

“Russian forces are unlikely to achieve an operationally significant deeper penetration into the area in the near term,” the ISW said, although “Russian forces will likely continue to make tactical gains in the Avdiivka direction in the coming weeks, and Ukrainian commanders may decide conduct additional withdrawals if Russian forces threaten other Ukrainian tactical positions in the area.”

Russian military blogger Rybar reported that Moscow was making important advances west of Avdiivka, claiming that “troops have been systematically building on their success” past the fallen city and toward several cities and towns.

Russian forces are moving in multiple directions to seize the rest of the eastern Luhansk region, which they mostly control, and towards the city of Kupiansk in the neighboring Kharkiv region.

Syrskyi said Russia is also trying to move toward the larger cities of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, two long-standing goals for Moscow that, if achieved, would give Russia much broader control over the Donetsk region.

Ukrainian troops have blocked Russian advances toward the town of Siversk, en route to Sloviansk, and are fighting a heated battle in the town of Chasiv Yar, en route to Kramatorsk, Syrskyi said.

Kiev has been at a disadvantage for months as it awaits more help from Washington. While that package was finally approved last week and the Pentagon announced that more assistance is on the way, it will still be days before critically needed weapons reach the battlefield.

Russia has moved more aggressively this spring, in part to seize the initiative following a delay in U.S. aid to Ukrainian defenders, but also ahead of Victory Day on May 9, an important holiday for Russians that celebrates the triumph over Nazi Germany in the World War. II.