Since October, the defense forces have been draining the resources of the Russians there and have completed their task - the occupiers have lost tens of thousands of military personnel.
Although the enemy’s losses were seven times higher than ours, the decision to withdraw Ukrainian troops from Avdiivka was correct.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated this during a speech at the Munich Security Conference.
“This does not mean that people moved kilometers away and Russia captured something. During the two years of war, Russia tried to do something in the east. What is something? They simply destroyed several small villages and towns. Since October they have been attacking this unfortunate Avdiivka. Thousands of their military personnel died,” the head of state said.
Zelenskyy also noted that there is no need to ask Ukraine when the war will end. According to him, the apt question is why Russian dictator Volodymyr Putin is still able to continue it.
Ukraine can win. Our actions are limited only by the range and sufficiency of weapons. But this depends not only on us. And the situation in Avdiivka confirms this. Unfortunately, keeping Ukraine in an artificial shortage of weapons, in particular, in a shortage of artillery and long-range weapons, allows Putin to adapt to the intensity of hostilities. This weakening of democracy undermines our collective capacity!” – the Ukrainian leader emphasized.
In addition, Zelenskyy was asked about the losses of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in Avdiivka, to which he replied: “I cannot tell you our losses. But in Avdiivka I can tell you that it was one in seven. There are seven Russians for every Ukrainian.”