Vladimir Putin says Russia will push further into Ukraine after ‘chaotic’ fall of Avdiivka
- Russian president tells his military to prepare properly for future advances in Ukraine
- Russian forces captured the eastern city of Avdiivka last week after months of fighting
President Vladimir Putin said Russian troops would push further into Ukraine to build on their success on the battlefield after the fall of the town of Avdiivka where he said Ukrainian troops had been forced to flee in chaos.
The town, which once had a population of 32,000, fell to Russia on Saturday, Putin’s biggest battlefield victory since Russian forces captured the city of Bakhmut in May 2023.
Television footage released by Russia’s defence ministry showed that almost every house in Avdiivka had been branded with war.
On Wednesday, Russian state media showed Russia’s top general, Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov, awarding medals to Russian troops involved in taking Avdiivka. He was also given a report by the commander in charge of the Russian assault on Avdiivka, Colonel-General Andrei Mordvichev.
Putin said on Tuesday the Ukrainian order to withdraw from the town had been announced after Ukrainian troops had already begun to flee in chaos. He said that all captured Ukrainian soldiers should be accorded their rights under international conventions on prisoners.
