- Russian troops occupied the city Avdiivka marks its biggest territorial gain in recent months.
- Ukrainian soldiers in the city were under constant shelling with far fewer personnel.
- Several soldiers told WaPo how they narrowly escaped death while retreating from Avdiivka.
A Ukrainian soldier told The Washington Post how he and his fellow soldiers witnessed an entire convoy wiped out by Russian artillery fire while fleeing the Ukrainian city of Avdiivka, which had recently fallen to Russian forces.
In late February, Russia captured Avdiivka, a city of about 30,000 people, marking its biggest territorial gain in recent months.
Ukrainian soldiers stationed in the city faced constant shelling and fended off waves of Russian attacks, but were finally ordered to withdraw on February 17.
Seven outgunned and outgunned Ukrainian soldiers told the Post how they narrowly escaped death while retreating from Avdiivka.
One of the soldiers, a 21-year-old identified only as a major, said he had just arrived in Avdiivka in the second week of February and was given responsibility for his unit because “no one more senior was left.” He said he was forced to do so.
The major told the Post that while Russian troops were guarding the evacuation routes, they were “pouring a very targeted rain of artillery fire” on his troops.
After his unit left Avdiivka, the soldier saw his entire convoy annihilated by artillery.
“It was just a convoy of people. It was the greatest convoy of soldiers in history. And right before our eyes, this convoy was destroyed by artillery. It was a generation of people,” Major told the Post.
Other soldiers recalled the Post's near-death encounter while trying to flee the city.
Shved, a 44-year-old shooter who suffered many concussions during the war, told the newspaper that he suffered a second concussion after the drone hit the car he and three other wounded were traveling in. All the men survived, he said.
Avdiivka's fall comes as US aid to Ukraine, including $60 billion, remains stalled. Biden administration officials said more than half of that money would go to the U.S. defense industrial base.
House Republicans have so far blocked passage of the emergency foreign aid bill.
Although Ukrainian officials have expressed an urgency for more aid, House Speaker Mike Johnson said there was no intention to “rush” the bill, which was already approved by the Senate on February 13.
A 21-year-old military major told the Post he believed Kiev could have defended Avdiivka if it had more resources, including manpower, artillery and air defense.
“We just needed something to fight for,” he said.
