On the night of Saturday, February 17, the Armed Forces of Ukraine withdrew from Avdiyivka to avoid the encirclement. The small industrial city is located 13 km from Donetsk. For almost 10 years, the Russians tried to occupy Avdiyivka, and after more than 3,100 days of defense, the city fell. The defense forces moved to more favorable frontiers.
“Based on the operational situation that developed around Avdiivka, in order to avoid the encirclement and preserve the life and health of servicemen, I decided to withdraw our units from the city and move to defense on more favorable lines,” said the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces Oleksandr Syrskyi.
He noted that our soldiers performed their military duty with dignity, did everything possible to destroy the best Russian military units, and inflicted significant losses on the enemy in manpower and equipment.
Minister of Defense Rustem Umerov added that the decision to protect the people is the right one, assuring: “We are building and strengthening fortifications. Avdiivka — we will return.”
Journalist "Radio Svoboda" Marjan Kushnir managed to visit the city on the eve of the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from there. He noted that he was struck by the number of guided air bombs that the Russians were launching daily on Avdeevka, in particular on the fighting positions of the Armed Forces.
“It was surprising that the fields were littered with bodies. And with those bodies, the Russian troops close their holes. Build fences and so on. And it is not surprising that with so many bodies, wiping out six combat brigades, the Russian army occupies the town of Avdeevka,” the documentarian noted.
Avdiyivka was the last defensive line of the Armed Forces on the front, which has not changed since 2014. All these years Avdiyivka was held by Ukrainian troops. Despite its proximity to the front line, the city has developed and grown economically in recent years. During the full-scale invasion, most of the inhabitants left, and the city itself turned into ruins due to constant Russian shelling and bombing.
“We saw such intensity of shelling as in Avdiivka, only in Bakhmut in the last days of the city's defense,” says documentary photographer Vlada Liberova. Together with her husband Konstantin, she shot Avdiyivka literally 2-3 days before the retreat of Ukrainian troops. The authorities say that Russian aviation worked more actively in Avdiivka. Before their eyes, the coke plant was hit by two air bombs, a pack of hail and barrel artillery. The documentarian recalls that already in December 2023, when she and her husband were filming Avdiyivka, the road to the city and its surroundings was shelled and “then it was already clear that the situation was getting worse”.
Recall, the great bloody battle for Avdiyivka lasted four months. On October 10, 2023, the Russian army began a powerful offensive on Avdiyivka, trying to knock out Ukrainian forces. Then the situation in the city shot by Ukrainian photographer Oleg Palchyk.
At the beginning of February, the situation became critical and the Russians almost managed to cut off the supply routes for the defenders of the city.
The project is implemented thanks to support IWM Documenting Ukraine.
The material was worked on:
Researcher of the topic, author of the text: Vira Labych
Bildeditor: Vyacheslav Ratynskyi
Literary Editor: Julia Futei
Site Manager: Vladislav Kuhar
On the night of Saturday, February 17, the Armed Forces of Ukraine withdrew from Avdiyivka to avoid the encirclement. The small industrial city is located 13 km from Donetsk. For almost 10 years, the Russians tried to occupy Avdiyivka, and after more than 3,100 days of defense, the city fell. The defense forces moved to more favorable frontiers.
“Based on the operational situation that developed around Avdiivka, in order to avoid the encirclement and preserve the life and health of servicemen, I decided to withdraw our units from the city and move to defense on more favorable lines,” said the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces Oleksandr Syrskyi.
He noted that our soldiers performed their military duty with dignity, did everything possible to destroy the best Russian military units, and inflicted significant losses on the enemy in manpower and equipment.
Minister of Defense Rustem Umerov added that the decision to protect the people is the right one, assuring: “We are building and strengthening fortifications. Avdiivka — we will return.”
Journalist "Radio Svoboda" Marjan Kushnir managed to visit the city on the eve of the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from there. He noted that he was struck by the number of guided air bombs that the Russians were launching daily on Avdeevka, in particular on the fighting positions of the Armed Forces.
“It was surprising that the fields were littered with bodies. And with those bodies, the Russian troops close their holes. Build fences and so on. And it is not surprising that with so many bodies, wiping out six combat brigades, the Russian army occupies the town of Avdeevka,” the documentarian noted.
Avdiyivka was the last defensive line of the Armed Forces on the front, which has not changed since 2014. All these years Avdiyivka was held by Ukrainian troops. Despite its proximity to the front line, the city has developed and grown economically in recent years. During the full-scale invasion, most of the inhabitants left, and the city itself turned into ruins due to constant Russian shelling and bombing.
“We saw such intensity of shelling as in Avdiivka, only in Bakhmut in the last days of the city's defense,” says documentary photographer Vlada Liberova. Together with her husband Konstantin, she shot Avdiyivka literally 2-3 days before the retreat of Ukrainian troops. The authorities say that Russian aviation worked more actively in Avdiivka. Before their eyes, the coke plant was hit by two air bombs, a pack of hail and barrel artillery. The documentarian recalls that already in December 2023, when she and her husband were filming Avdiyivka, the road to the city and its surroundings was shelled and “then it was already clear that the situation was getting worse”.
Recall, the great bloody battle for Avdiyivka lasted four months. On October 10, 2023, the Russian army began a powerful offensive on Avdiyivka, trying to knock out Ukrainian forces. Then the situation in the city shot by Ukrainian photographer Oleg Palchyk.
At the beginning of February, the situation became critical and the Russians almost managed to cut off the supply routes for the defenders of the city.
The project is implemented thanks to support IWM Documenting Ukraine.
The material was worked on:
Researcher of the topic, author of the text: Vira Labych
Bildeditor: Vyacheslav Ratynskyi
Literary Editor: Julia Futei
Site Manager: Vladislav Kuhar
UAPP is an independent association of professional Ukrainian photographers, designed to protect their interests, support, develop and promote Ukrainian photography as an important element of national culture.
UAPP's activities span educational, social, research and cultural initiatives, as well as book publishing.
UAPP represents Ukrainian professional photography in the international photographic community and is an official member of the Federation of European Photographers (FEP) — an international organization representing more than 50,000 professional photographers in Europe and other countries around the world.
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