1200 civilians still remain in war-torn Avdiivka – mayor

Despite constant Russian shelling of Avdiivka, 1,230 people are living in the frontline town.

Meanwhile, the number of people willing to leave the city has decreased, says the mayor Vitalii Barabash.

"Yesterday we managed to evacuate 5 people. As of this morning, 1230 people remain in the city. Of course, this is a lot. Recently, we have seen a decrease in the number of people willing to leave. On average, 3-6 people a day are now planning to. Over 350 people have left in our direction during the escalation," said Barabash.

Residents of Avdiivka live in the basements of multi-story and private houses. There are cases when residents stay in their apartments.

"The enemy is conducting a lot of activity in our sector. It is dozens of attacks per day, but our guys do not allow them to gain a foothold. Even if they manage to advance a little bit, they are immediately countered by artillery, mortars and rocket artillery. That is, the enemy has no serious entrenchment. The defense line around our city is holding," added Barabash.

Russian forces complete a lot of so-called "meat assaults" in the battles for the city, involving mobilized soldiers and Storm-V and Storm-Z groups trained beforehand.

In the last few days alone, Russian troops have conducted assault operations in at least 16 areas. There has been a small advance in the north near Stepove. The enemy occasionally comes close to the fence of the Avdiivka Coke Plant.

Russian forces have also advanced in the south on the outskirts of Vynohradnyky, with fighting taking place between Kolosova Street and Yasynivsky Lane. The southern industrial area is more likely to be captured.

As a result of shelling and attacks by the Russian occupation forces in Avdiivka, many residential buildings have been completely destroyed.

The British Ministry of Defense has published a video from Avdiivka, which shows the consequences of Russian shelling. The 53-second footage also shows damaged military equipment.

Russian forces have also been slowly advancing through the ruins of Marinka in recent weeks.