PHOTO
EDITORS NOTE: Graphic content / (FILES) A man rides his bicycle in front of a destroyed apartment building after a Russian strike in the city of Avdiivka, Donetsk Oblast, on March 18, 2023. After the failure of armoured assaults, the Russian army is now sending its men "in waves" to try to encircle Avdi�vka, with massive losses, as in Bakhmout, according to Ukrainian soldiers defending this eastern town. (Photo by Aris Messinis / AFP)
Large numbers of Russian forces are pushing to capture the frontline Ukrainian town of Avdiivka from multiple sides, its Ukrainian mayor said Thursday, escalating a months-long effort to capture the industrial hub.
"Unfortunately, the enemy is pressing from all directions, there is not a single part of our city that is more or less calm. Indeed, they are storming with very large forces," the mayor of the town, Vitaly Barabash, told state media.