A Ukrainian soldier recounted to The Washington Submit how he witnessed a complete convoy of males being worn out by Russian artillery as he and his fellow troops had been escaping Avdiivka, a metropolis in Ukraine that just lately fell to Russian forces.
In late February, Russia took management of Avdiivka, which had a inhabitants of about 30,000 folks, marking its most important territorial achieve in months.
Ukrainian troopers posted within the metropolis confronted fixed bombardment and fended off waves of Russian troops earlier than they had been in the end ordered to withdraw on February 17.
Outmanned and outgunned, seven Ukrainian troopers spoke to the Submit about how they narrowly escaped demise as they retreated from Avdiivka.
One 21-year-old soldier, recognized solely as Main, described being pressured to take cost of his unit after solely arriving in Avdiivka within the second week of February since there was “no one extra senior left.”
Main instructed the Submit that Russians had been “raining down very focused artillery fireplace” on his unit whereas they had been defending the evacuation routes.
Then, after his unit had left Avdiivka, the soldier witnessed a complete convoy of males worn out by artillery.
“It was only a convoy of individuals. A convoy of the perfect males ever. And in entrance of our eyes, this convoy was destroyed by artillery. Folks of my age, between 20 and 30,” Main instructed the Submit.
Different troopers recalled the Submit encountering brushes with demise as they tried to flee the town.
Shved, a 44-year-old marksman who suffered a number of concussions through the struggle, instructed the newspaper {that a} drone hit the automobile he and three different wounded males had been in, giving him one other concussion. All the boys survived, he stated.
The autumn of Avdiivka got here as US support for Ukraine, which incorporates $60 billion, stays in limbo. Biden administration officers have stated that greater than half of that cash would go towards the US protection industrial base.
Home Republican lawmakers have up to now stalled the passage of the emergency overseas support invoice.
Whereas Ukrainian officers sign urgency for additional assist, Home Speaker Mike Johnson has stated that he didn’t wish to “rush” the piece of laws that was already authorised by the Senate on February 13.
Main, the 21-year-old soldier, instructed the Submit that he believed Kyiv may have held on to Avdiivka if it had extra assets, together with manpower, artillery, and air protection.
“We simply wanted one thing to battle with,” he stated.
