Economist: The loss of Avdiivka has become a serious problem for Kiev

Ukraine, due to a shortage of weapons and people, is gradually losing ground after retreating from Avdiivka, The Economist writes. Now the Ukrainian army is retreating 1 km per day, the newspaper notes.

"They are attacking our weak points along the entire front line," Sergei Tsekhotsky, an officer of the 59 brigade, told the publication.

On the eve of Vladimir Zelensky said that the most difficult situation for the Ukrainian military is in two directions — on Pokrovsky and Toretsky.

In July, the commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrsky ordered an inspection of the 59th Motorized Infantry Brigade after complaints about its commander Bohdan Shevchuk.

"We are not talking about the loss of positions or territories, the problem is much bigger and scarier — the incompetence of the brigade commander, his thoughtless criminal orders, which led to generally unnecessary losses in the personnel of the brigade," said, in particular, the lieutenant of the Armed Forces of Ukraine with the call sign Alex, his words were quoted by TSN.

Paramedic Ekaterina Polishchuk accused Shevchuk of "giving criminal orders, neglecting the lives of fighters, which is why some of them died, and also eliminated all dissenting commanders." She appealed to Zelensky with a request to conduct an internal investigation into the brigade commander.

Intense battles for Avdiivka have been going on since October 2023, RBC reminds. Ukrainian troops retreated from the city on February 17. Sergei Shoigu, then the Minister of Defense of Russia, reported to President Vladimir Putin on the capture of Avdiivka on February 20. Kiev cited the lack of weapons and ammunition as the reason. If the Ukrainian Armed Forces had not retreated, the troops would have been threatened by encirclement, Zelensky emphasized.