Russian forces push further west after taking control of Avdiivka: MoD Ru

Russian forces have advanced further to the west after taking control of the Ukrainian town of Avdiivka, the defense ministry said on Friday.

It said Russian forces had also destroyed a number of Western-provided Ukrainian weapons in the past week including seven British-supplied Storm Shadow cruise missiles, a US Patriot anti-aircraft guided missile and launch vehicle, and 42 HIMARS rockets fired by multiple launch systems.

 "As a result of a group strike, the Missile Troops of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation have hit a launcher, a truck, ammunition and a missile reload trailer transporter of the US-made Patriot surface-to-air missile system," the statement said.
Donetsk area

Russian forces have liberated Pobeda and took more advantageous positions in the Donetsk area over the past week, and 12 Ukrainian counterattacks have also been also repelled, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

"In the Donetsk area, Battlegroup South units have liberated the populated locality of Pobeda and gained more advantageous positions. Near Georgievka, Leninskoye, Bogdanovka and Novgorodskoye, 12 counterattacks carried out by assault groups of Ukraine’s 79th airborne assault, 24th and 42nd mechanized brigades have been repelled," the ministry said.

The Ukrainian armed forces have suffered losses of up to 1,195 troops and six tanks in the South Donetsk area over the past week, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

The Defense Ministry pointed out that in that area, the Battlegroup Vostok (East) units had improved their frontline positions and inflicted a defeat on units of Ukraine’s 72nd mechanized brigade as well as its 102nd, 108th, 127th, and 128th brigades of territorial defense near Vodyanoye, Novodonetskoye, Staromayorskoye, and Urozhaynoye of the Donetsk People’s Republic, as well as Chervonoye, Priyutnoye, and Lugovskoye of the Zaporozhye Region.

"Four attacks conducted by assault groups of the Ukrainian armed forces’ 58th motorized infantry brigade near Novodonetskoye and Shevchenko in the Donetsk People’s Republic were repelled. The Ukrainian military suffered losses of up to 1,195 troops, six tanks, six armored fighting vehicles, 23 motor vehicles and 16 field artillery guns," the ministry added.