KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian troops in Avdiivka struggled Friday with severe ammunition shortages as Russian forces tightened the noose around the strategic eastern city in an intense Kremlin push for a battlefield win.
The timing is critical as Russia is looking for a morale boost ahead of the second anniversary on Feb. 24 of Moscow‘s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the March presidential election in Russia.
The four-month battle in Avdiivka appeared to be coming to a head as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday made another trip to Europe, hoping to press his country’s Western allies to keep providing military support.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby said on Thursday that Russian forces are beginning to overwhelm Ukrainian defenses in the eastern city. He said Avdiivka is at risk of falling to Russia, a development he blamed “in very large part” on the fact that Ukrainian forces are running out of artillery ammunition.
The United States is Ukraine’s biggest single supporter but some $60 billion for Kyiv is being held up by political disagreements among American lawmakers.
Street fighting was underway in the bombed-out city, where Ukrainian troops are outnumbered 7-to-1, according to Oleksandr Borodin, press officer of the 3rd Assault Brigade of the Ukraine Armed Forces.
The 3rd Brigade said on its social media account Friday that its soldiers are holding out at the huge Avdiivka Coke Plant….
