City official: Ukrainian flag flies over Avdiivka, then Russian-occupied Donetsk

Vitalii Barabash, head of the Avdiivka city military administration, said on national television that Ukrainian forces launched the national flag into the sky over Avdiivka on Sept. 9 to commemorate the 245th anniversary of the city's founding.

Avdiivka is located in the center of Donetsk Oblast. Before Russia's all-out war against Ukraine, it had a population of over 31,000 people. Now the city is nearly destroyed by constant shelling.

According to Barabash, the flag headed in the direction of Donetsk, the regional capital that has been under Russian occupation since 2014.

"(Russian occupation authorities) tried to shoot it down," Barabash said. "But the state flag is already flying over the Kyivskyi District of Donetsk."

Local Telegram channel, Typical Donetsk, published footage of the flag flying over various parts of the Russian-occupied city.