The US has warned that Russia could seize Ukraine's key
eastern town of Avdiivka - the scene of some of the fiercest fighting in recent
months.
"Avdiivka is at risk of falling into Russian
control," National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said, citing
Ukraine's ammunition shortages.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky vowed to do
everything to "save as many Ukrainian lives as possible".
Russian troops have made gains in Avdiivka, threatening to
encircle it.
The town - which has been almost completely destroyed - is
seen as a gateway to nearby Donetsk, the regional Ukrainian capital seized by
Russian-backed fighters in 2014 and later illegitimately annexed by Moscow.
Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale
invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022.
Ukraine battles frostbite and shell shortage in ruined town
Nothing but rubble: Ukraine's shattered ghost town Avdiivka
At Thursday's briefing in Washington, Mr Kirby said Avdiivka
could fall largely "because the Ukrainian forces on the ground are running
out of artillery ammunition".
"Russia is sending wave after wave of conscript forces
to attack Ukrainian positions," he said.
"And because Congress has yet to pass the supplemental
bill, we have not been able to provide Ukraine with the artillery shells that
they desperately need to disrupt these Russian assaults.
"Russian forces are now reaching Ukrainian trenches in
Avdiivka, and they're beginning to overwhelm Ukrainian defences."
Earlier this week, the US Senate approved a $95bn (£75bn)
foreign aid package - including $60bn for Ukraine - after months of political
wrangling, but it faces an uphill battle in the House of Representatives.
Ukraine is critically dependent on weapons supplies from the
US and other Western allies to be able to continue fighting Russia - a much
bigger military force with an abundance of artillery ammunition.
Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg warned on Thursday
that the US failure to approve continued military assistance to Ukraine was
already having an impact on the battlefield.
Smoke rises near the Avdiivka Coke and Chemical Plant in the
town of Avdiivka in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict, as seen from
Yasynuvata (Yasinovataya) in the Donetsk region, Russian-controlled Ukraine,
February 15, 2024
IMAGE SOURCE,REUTERS
Image caption,
Smoke rises over an industrial site in Avdiivka on Thursday
In his video address late on Thursday, President Zelensky
said: "We are doing everything we can to ensure that our warriors have
enough managerial and technological capabilities to save as many Ukrainian
lives as possible."
On Friday, Mr Zelensky is visiting Berlin and Paris where he
is expected to sign security pacts with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and
French President Emmanuel Macron.
A similar agreement on security co-operation was signed
between Ukraine and the UK in January.
Late on Thursday, Ukrainian General Oleksandr Tarnavsky
admitted that "fierce battles" were taking place "within"
Avdiivka.
"We value every piece of Ukrainian land, but the
highest value and priority for us is the preservation of the life of a
Ukrainian soldier," he said.
Ukraine's military spokesman Dmytro Lykhoviy acknowledged
that Ukrainian troops in Avdiivka were being forced to "sometimes move to
more advantageous positions... in some places leaving positions".
In its update on Friday, the military general staff said
"the planned strengthening of units" was being carried out, as well
as "a troop manoeuvre in directions that are under threat".
Some Ukrainian soldiers have privately admitted the town
could fall at any moment.
"We're upset," Ukrainian officer Oleksii, from
Ukraine's 110th Mechanised Brigade in the Avdiivka area, told the OceanNewsUK earlier
this week, standing beside a huge mobile artillery piece as Russian guns boomed
in the distance.
"Currently we have two shells, but we have no
[explosive] charges for them… so we can't fire them. As of now, we have run out
of shells," said Oleksii. He suggested that the shortages were widespread
and having a dramatic impact on the fighting in Avdiivka.
"We feel a very strong responsibility for our guys
fighting right now in the town, armed only with assault rifles."
Ukraine's newly appointed commander-in-chief, Oleksandr
Syrskyi, visited the frontline in the Avdiivka area this week, acknowledging
that the situation there was "difficult".
He said the Russian military did not "count
losses", using its troops as cannon fodder.
Kyiv says an elite Ukrainian brigade has now been sent to
Avdiivka and reserve artillery has been deployed.
In unverified reports, Russian military bloggers said on
Thursday that a key Ukrainian defence position in southern Avdiivka - known as
Zenit - was now under Moscow's control.
