A recent report revealed that Russia has inflicted extensive damage upon the eastern Ukrainian city of Avdiivka, intentionally targeting civilian infrastructure in a major assault.
The Centre for Information Resilience has documented the alarming extent of the destruction, noting that nearly every building in the city has been either damaged or destroyed.
The report highlights that all 17 educational institutions in Avdiivka have been struck, along with nine out of 11 medical clinics, all five churches, and three large supermarkets.
The Khimik district, characterised by Soviet-era housing, has suffered the most significant impact.
Russian forces have focused on the central area’s 26 high-rise apartment buildings, seemingly aiming to prevent the Ukrainian army from using them as observation posts.
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Shockingly, strikes have hit 25 out of the 26 tower blocks, once home to thousands of residents.
Belén Carrasco Rodriguez, the project leader, commented on the dire situation, stating, “Avdiivka has been a central battleground in Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The relentless bombardment has spared almost no building in the city center, with critical civilian infrastructure such as schools, hospitals, and supermarkets largely destroyed or damaged.
“The Russian strategy involves indiscriminate shelling of urban areas alongside the use of more precise weaponry to target specific structures, mirroring similar patterns observed in other frontline cities like Mariupol and Bakhmut.”
Avdiivka’s military mayor, Vitaliy Barabash, reported a grim toll, with 154 residents confirmed dead.
Despite the devastation, approximately 1,200 people remain within the city, which has been on the frontline since 2014 when Russia seized the nearby regional capital of Donetsk.
The report sheds light on the October attack by Russian armed forces from three directions, utilizing tanks, armored personnel carriers, and infantry.
Their advances have resulted in the capture of two kilometers of territory and an industrial zone on Avdiivka’s southeastern outskirts.
Fierce battles continue, with Ukrainian troops maintaining control over the main urban center, a large coking and chemical factory to the northwest, and a crucial supply road.
