The First Slavic Brigade of the Donetsk People’s Militia is participating in the combat actions along with the Russian units, as for the information provided by the Ministry.

The allied forces conducted an extensive artillery preparation in advance, and used reconnaissance and attack drones, the statement said.

These actions caused heavy losses in the Ukrainian forces, which have begun to withdraw as Russian infantry and armored units advance on Vodyanoe, in the strategic direction of Avdeevka.

Earlier, the Russian Defense Ministry referred to the fact that the Ukrainian military began to arbitrarily abandon their positions in Donbass after the words of the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, about 100,000 human losses over the last nine months.

And while the Russian troops and the Donbass militias begin encircling Avdeevka, the bulk of the Ukrainian army, stationed in the strategic city of Artyomovsk (a.k.a. Bakhmut), is currently in a state of panic, since they have not received a withdrawal order from Kiev.

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