• Avdiivka, a gateway to Donetsk, is viewed as a gateway to Russia.
• Russian troops have advanced in Avdiivka, posing a threat of encirclement.
• Ukraine relies heavily on weapons supplies from the US and other Western allies.

The US has issued a warning that Russia could seize Ukraine’s key eastern town of Avdiivka – which has been the scene of some of the fiercest fighting in recent months.

“Avdiivka is at risk of falling into Russian control,” Citing Ukraine’s ammunition shortages, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby made the statement.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky vowed to do everything to “save as many Ukrainian lives as possible”.

Russian troops have advanced in Avdiivka, posing a threat of encirclement. Russian-backed fighters seized nearby Donetsk, the regional Ukrainian capital, in 2014 and subsequently annexed it, considering the town, which has suffered near-complete destruction, a gateway to the city. Russian President Vladimir Putin initiated a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022.

During Thursday’s briefing in Washington, Mr. Kirby stated that Avdiivka could fall primarily due to the dwindling artillery ammunition supplies of the Ukrainian forces on the ground.

“Russia is sending wave after wave of conscript forces to attack Ukrainian positions,” he said.

“And because Congress has yet to pass the supplemental bill, we have not been able to provide Ukraine with the artillery shells that they desperately need to disrupt these Russian assaults.”

“Russian forces are now reaching Ukrainian trenches in Avdiivka, and they’re beginning to overwhelm Ukrainian defenses.”

US Senate:

Earlier this week, the US Senate approved a $95 billion (£75 billion) foreign aid package, which includes $60 billion designated for Ukraine, following months of political wrangling. However, the package faces an uphill battle in the House of Representatives.

Ukraine critically relies on weapons supplies from the US and other Western allies to sustain its fight against Russia, a significantly larger military force with ample artillery ammunition.

On Thursday, Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg cautioned that the US’s failure to approve ongoing military assistance to Ukraine was already affecting the battlefield.

In his video address late on Thursday, President Zelensky said: “We are doing everything we can to ensure that our warriors have enough managerial and technological capabilities to save as many Ukrainian lives as possible.”

On Friday, Mr. Zelensky will visit Berlin and Paris, where he is expected to sign security pacts with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron. Ukraine and the UK signed a similar agreement on security cooperation in January.

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