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Avdiivka withdrawal and the Black Sea strike
Summary
A look back at the Ukrainian withdrawal from southern Avdiivka and the claimed sinking of a Russian ship off Crimea.
What did Ukraine's announcement on 16 February 2024 signal for the fight over Avdiivka? It said its troops were withdrawing from positions in the south of the city amid heavy clashes with Russian forces for control of it.
The announcement came a day after Russian soldiers entered Avdiivka from multiple directions. The sequence was quick: an advance into the city on one day, then a Ukrainian pullback from the southern positions the next.
A long battle
The fighting was the culmination of a Russian offensive launched on 10 October 2023, after more than a year and a half of intermittent clashes along the city's outskirts. Avdiivka is in Donetsk Oblast. The battle was later considered one of the bloodiest and fiercest of the war.
A claim at sea
Two days earlier, on 14 February 2024, Ukraine claimed to have sunk the Russian ship Tsezar Kunikov off the coast of Katsiveli, Crimea. A video appeared to show the vessel being struck by unmanned surface drones.
The two events were separate: one a ground battle in Donetsk Oblast, the other a reported naval drone strike off Crimea. Together they show the war being fought at once on land and at sea in the days before the withdrawal announcement on 16 February 2024.
