Battle of Avdiivka: Ukraine says 'fierce' fighting inside symbolic frontline town
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00:00 It's been called a symbol of Ukrainian resistance.
00:03 The eastern city of Avdiivka, encircled by Russian forces on three sides.
00:08 And now, Moscow is tightening the noose around the beleaguered city, after a four-month battle
00:13 to capture it.
00:14 Kyiv says reinforcements were on their way, while the situation remains critical.
00:20 The Russian Federation continues to ignore the laws and customs of warfare, employing
00:24 tactics of terror, conducting rocket and aviation strikes, and carrying out shelling with
00:29 multiple rocket launcher systems, not only targeting military, but also civilian objects
00:35 in our state.
00:37 The battle for the industrial hub has been one of the bloodiest of the two-year war.
00:41 Almost every building has been damaged or destroyed, after Russia's forces launched
00:46 a costly attempt to seize the town last fall.
00:49 Once home to over 30,000 people, only 1,000 residents remain.
00:54 And bringing in supplies and evacuating those who want to leave have been complicated by
00:58 the near-daily shelling.
01:00 Better equipped and outnumbering Kyiv's troops on the ground, Moscow has been making gains
01:05 on the front lines, while Kyiv struggles amid shortages of ammunition and personnel and
01:10 the growing fatigue of exhausted soldiers.
01:13 Should Russian forces pierce through Ukraine's defences, it would be the most significant
01:18 territorial gain for Moscow since it seized Bakhmut last May.