We reported earlier that Ukrainian troops had withdrawn from the besieged eastern city of Avdiivka.
The withdrawal, announced as Ukraine faces acute shortages of ammunition with US military aid delayed for months in Congress, aimed to save troops from being fully surrounded by Russian forces after months of fierce fighting, Kyiv said.
General Oleksandr Syrskyi, who took the helm of the Ukrainian military in a major shake-up last week, said Ukrainian forces had moved back to more secure positions outside the city.
“I decided to withdraw our units and move to defence from more favourable lines in order to avoid encirclement and preserve the lives and health of servicemen,” he said.
US President Joe Biden had said on Thursday that Avdiivka risked falling to Russian forces because of ammunition shortages following months of Republican congressional opposition to a new US military aid package for Kyiv.
Capturing Avdiivka is key to Russia’s aim of securing full control of the two provinces that make up the eastern industrial Donbas region, and could hand Vladimir Putin a battlefield victory as he seeks re-election next month.
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