Resisting Ukrainian Counterattacks, Russia Increases Pressure in Avdiika and Kherson

JAKARTA - Russian troops increased pressure on the city of Avdiivka and the Kherson region on Sunday, as they tried to stem Ukraine's counteroffensive which has entered its fourth month.

Russia is known to have focused on industrial areas in the east, since failing to capture Kyiv in the early days of the invasion in February 2022, maintaining positions in the Kherson region, since abandoning the main city in the region late last year.

The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, in its evening report, said Ukrainian forces managed to thwart nearly 20 Russian attacks around Avdiivka. In addition, it was reported that Russian airstrikes hit nearby villages.

Avdiivka itself has become a symbol of resistance, seen as a gateway to reclaiming the Russian-controlled city of Donetsk and the rest of the Donbas region – consisting of Donetsk and Luhansk.

The region was briefly seized in 2014, when Russian-backed separatists seized much of eastern Ukraine, but was later recaptured by Ukrainian troops who, in the following nine years, have built a formidable fortification.

"It's true, Avdiivka has an important meaning," Andriy Yusov, spokesman for the Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine's Defense Ministry, told news outlet Espreso TV, reported by Reuters, October 23.

"This is not the first time that the occupying forces have increased tensions with their declaration of takeover of all of Donetsk and Lugansk. Their plans failed, deadlines were pushed back. This is just another episode of tension," he said.

Meanwhile, President Volodymyr Zelensky said the situation in Avdiivka and the nearby town of Maryinka was "very difficult. There have been many Russian attacks. But he said his troops' positions remained defensive.

"Every day, we need results for Ukraine, to withstand Russia's attacks, to eliminate the invaders, to move forward," President Zelensky said in his evening video address.

"Whether it's one kilometer or 500 meters, but keep moving forward, every day," he said.

The Russian military report did not mention Avdiivka, but described a successful operation against Ukrainian positions to the east in Bakhmut, which Moscow captured in May after months of fighting.

In Kherson, regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin said several villages had been hit by shelling, as had transport and food production sites in the city of Kherson.

It is known that Russian troops routinely attack Kherson and villages on the west bank of the Dnipro from positions on the east bank, where they withdrew at the end of last year.

Meanwhile, the US-based Institute for the Study of War reported in the past week that Ukrainian troops had crossed the Dnipro to take up new positions and pursue Russian troops.