The Ukrainian military has announced that Russia has reduced its ground attacks around Avdiivka. Moreover, it became known that Russia had to suffer massive losses.
The spokesperson for the Tavria Group, Oleksandr Shtupun, said according to The Kyiv Independent that Russia had reduced the number of ground attacks but, in return, intensified its air strikes. In just two nights, about 40 bombs were dropped on and near the city. “The number of ground attacks has decreased a bit. We can even say it has been halved,” Stupun said on television.
More than 150 armored vehicles destroyed
Shtupun did not explicitly say whether the numbers would only refer to this front section. However, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces reports a much higher number of skirmishes on all fronts, announcing 55 clashes on October 23rd and over 90 clashes on October 22nd. Russia intensified its attacks on Avdiivka in recent weeks and tried to besiege the city at the gates of Donetsk. “Furthermore, more than 150 armored vehicles were destroyed by our military, including 54 tanks,” Shtupun added.
These figures have not yet been verified and/or confirmed by an independent source. Therefore, they should be viewed with caution. In war, it can be advantageous for parties to the conflict to deliberately spread misinformation to strengthen their own position or weaken that of the opponent.
Image: Kremlin.ru, Vladimir Putin (24.06.2023), CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (image size modified)