Avdiivka Maps Reveal Russian Advances Along Front Line

Russian forces are scoring further tactical gains along the devastated front line in eastern Ukraine, with Kyiv's outgunned troops under fierce pressure and being forced to retreat in several key areas.

Momentum has been with Moscow's units for several months, their grinding offensive on the eastern front winning notable territorial gains at high cost in personnel and equipment. The Kremlin's troops are rolling forwards, raising concerns in Ukraine and among its Western partners of a front-line collapse.

Ukrainian commander-in-chief Colonel-General Oleksandr Syrskyi—elevated to the role in February with the dismissal of widely popular General Valerii Zaluzhnyi, who clashed with President Volodymyr Zelensky's team—wrote on social media stressing the dire battlefield situation.

"In general, the enemy has succeeded tactically in these directions but has failed to achieve an operational advantage," Syrskyi said in a statement posted to Facebook and Telegram. The situation is changing dynamically, the commander said, adding that his forces will use unit rotation to reinforce their positions.

Newsweek has contacted the Russian Defense Ministry by email to request comment.

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) Sunday-evening update said that the Ukrainian withdrawals were prompted by "recent Russian gains northwest of Avdiivka." The retreats, the independent U.S.-based think tank added alongside a map showing the changes in control, "have yet to facilitate rapid Russian tactical gains. Russian forces remain unlikely to achieve a deeper operationally significant penetration in the area in the near term."

Syrskyi said Ukrainian forces had withdrawn from Berdychi to the northwest of Avdiivka and Semenivka to the west of the same city, both of which have been the focus of recent Russian drives. Moscow's troops have also opened a new salient northwest of Avdiivka in the settlement of Ocheretyne and around Solovyove.

ISW said Sunday these gains have not been "rapid," suggesting that "Ukrainian forces maintain positions and capabilities in the area that are slowing further westward Russian advances for the moment."

However, the Ukrainian outlook remains bleak more than two years into Russia's full-scale invasion. Ukraine's 2023 offensive effort fizzled out, with advanced Western weapons—many of which arrived much later than planned and in smaller numbers than requested—failing to facilitate the breakthroughs required to liberate the territory still held by Russian forces.

Russia is now back on the front foot, its troops with access to far more munitions than their Ukrainian adversaries. Kyiv has repeatedly said that only Western—and primarily American—military aid can rebalance the situation, but such aid has been slow in coming.

Ukraine is bracing for an expected summer Russian offensive, with possible targets including the Donetsk city of Chasiv Yar and the Kharkiv Oblast city of Kupiansk, which could open the way to Ukraine's second city of Kharkiv.

"Russian forces will likely continue to make tactical gains in the Avdiivka direction in the coming weeks, and Ukrainian commanders may decide to conduct additional withdrawals if Russian forces threaten other Ukrainian tactical positions in the area," the ISW wrote.

"The next line of defensible settlements in the area is some distance from the Ukrainian defensive line that Russian forces have been attacking since the seizure of Avdiivka in mid-February 2024, although Ukrainian forces may be able to use defensible windbreaks in fields immediately west of the current frontline to slow future Russian attacks," the ISW added.

"The complete Ukrainian withdrawal to reportedly fortified positions further west of Avdiivka would likely allow Russian forces to make relatively rapid advances through these fields, although the advances would likely be rapid only if Ukrainian forces do not try to hold positions in the fields."