Shoigu reported takings yesterday
Ukraine admits withdrawal of its troops from Mariinka
December 26, 2023, 6:29 p.m
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The small town of Marjinka is protected by fortifications. Ukraine built it in 2014 when pro-Russian separatists took Donetsk. The Russians still manage to conquer the city, as Commander-in-Chief Saluschnyj admits. He also does not rule out a Russian advance on Avdiivka.
The Ukrainian commander-in-chief Valeriy Zalushnyj has admitted that his troops will largely withdraw from the completely destroyed small town of Marinka in the eastern Donetsk region. The armed forces are in the northern part and new defense lines have been prepared outside Marjinka, the general told journalists in Kiev. The day before, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced the capture of the city, which has been under dispute since February 2022, which Kiev initially denied.
The Ukrainian army had already fortified Mariinka in 2014. At that time, pro-Russian separatists controlled by Moscow took Donetsk. Russian Defense Minister Shoigu spoke to Putin about “powerful fortifications” and “underground passages” that Ukraine had built in Mariinka. The fortress was conquered through the “decisive action of our soldiers”.
Saluzhny spoke of the possibility that Russian troops would manage to capture the city of Avdiivka, north of Donetsk, in “two to three months.” “We don’t have to cling to a particular settlement and make a show or mourn it,” he said.
The defense will be maintained for as long as possible. However, it is more important for Kiev to save the soldiers for a later recapture. Kiev has been fending off a Russian invasion for more than 22 months. After a Ukrainian counteroffensive that was largely considered a failure, Russian troops have recently regained the initiative, especially in eastern Ukraine. Including the Crimean peninsula, which was annexed by Russia in 2014, almost a fifth of Ukrainian territory is under Russian control.