Russian troops poised for major assault on Avdiivka

Russia has amassed an estimated 40,000 troops around Avdiivka as it prepares for a third wave assault on the shattered eastern town, the Ukrainian military has said.

“They are building up reserves. They’ve brought in about 40,000 men here along with ammunition of all calibres,” said Anton Kotsukon, spokesperson for the 110th separate mechanised brigade.

“We see no sign of the Russians abandoning plans to encircle Avdiivka.”

Russian forces, he said, had surrounded the town on three sides and were “playing cat and mouse”, sending up “huge numbers” of drones to scout out Ukraine’s defences.

The Russian military has focused on eastern Ukraine after failing to advance on Kyiv in the early days of its invasion, and have been pounding Avdiivka since mid-October. Online videos show apartment buildings reduced to shells, with 1500 of its

32,000 pre-war residents remaining. Ukrainian forces regard the town as a gateway for future advances to recapture territory in the east.

A Russian missile strike on the Ukrainian port of Odesa hit a Liberian-flagged freighter, killing a port worker and wounding another, as well as three citizens of the Philippines, crew members on the ship, Ukraine’s armed forces said yesterday.

The report did not give the name of the ship or the country of its owners, but Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said the ship was to carry iron ore to China. The extent of the damage was not immediately reported.

The Odesa port and others in the region are economically vital to Ukraine as its outlets to the Black Sea, from which ships can head for world markets. Odesa port facilities have come under Russian attack 21 times since Russia in August declined to renew a deal allowing Ukraine to safely export grain via the Black Sea, Kubrakov said.