JRL NEWSWATCH: “Battle for Avdiivka tests Ukraine’s new commander” – Financial Times
“Oleksandr Syrsky aims to shore up eastern town, with troops fearing heavy losses as western supplies run short”
“… Avdiivka [is] an early test for Ukraine’s new [commander-in-chief General Oleksandr Syrsky] and [a Ukrainian] army running short of ammunition and men as western military support falters. The battle for the industrial town 20km north of … Donetsk has been raging since October but fighting has intensified, with Russian troops last week breaking through Ukrainian defences on the northern and southern edges. … [Ukrainian] soldiers [there] are already rationing ammunition amid supply shortages aggravated by the U.S.’s failure to agree on fresh aid … Syrsky has sent reinforcements …. Avdiivka is a gateway to … Donetsk, [the largest city in the Donbas,] occupied by Russian forces and … proxies since 2014. … The loss of Avdiivka would make it harder for Ukraine to eventually recapture Donetsk … and deprive Ukrainian artillery of a position to strike the city’s communication lines ….”