Official: 7 children remain in front-line city of Avdiivka in Donetsk Oblast

7 children remain in the Ukrainian-controlled city of Avdiivka, Donetsk region, including one that was found a day earlier, according to Vitalii Barabash, head of the city military administration.

“Unfortunately, children still remain in the city. There are irresponsible parents who hide their children and don’t want to leave the city,” Barabash said on March 26.

Avdiivka is located just 10 kilometers from the northern outskirts of occupied Donetsk, and has been on the front line of the war in Donbas since 2014.

In total, about 2,000 civilians still live in the city, which has no water and electricity supply and is constantly under Russian shelling.

With Russian forces making recent gains on the flanks of Avdiivka, Ukrainian military spokesperson Oleksii Dmytrashkivskyi acknowledged on March 20 that the city could become a “second Bakhmut."

Recently, on March 22, 2 civilians were killed as a result of Russian attacks in Avdiivka, where around 32,000 people lived before Russia’s war against Ukraine began in 2014.

Surviving Avdiivka: Russia intensifies assault on city deemed a ‘second Bakhmut’

AVDIIVKA, Donetsk Oblast – Avdiivka is an eerie city to drive into in March 2023. One year into Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine, but nine years into the Donbas war, the compact city just 10 kilometers from the center of occupied Donetsk is barely holding on. There is little choice

Kyiv IndependentFrancis Farrell