On October 10, Russian troops launched a massive offensive near Avdiivka. From approximately 15:00, they shelled the positions of Ukrainian soldiers around the city, and closer to the evening they began to hit Avdiivka.
The head of the cityʼs military administration Vitaliy Barabash informed about this on the air of the telethon.
According to him, the occupiers stormed with dozens of armored vehicles and involved about 2 000 Russian soldiers. The fighting continues for the second day. The Defense Forces of Ukraine have already destroyed about 60 pieces of equipment, in particular, 16 tanks.
"Thank God, some instinct of self-preservation worked in people yesterday. So there were no injured or dead. Most likely, they [people] simply heard everything that was happening around the city since the night before, and therefore did not go out," noted Barabash, answering the question about the injured civilians.
However, as of October 11, one deceased person is known to be a man born in 1938. There is one injured person born in 1979 and an injured woman of about 35 years old.
After the airstrike, the Russians are looking for people under the rubble. There are probably two more people there — an elderly man and an elderly woman.
"This morning, about 10 missiles hit the territory of the city. There are hits on high-rise buildings. There are hits and just on an open place, and there are hits on the territory of the Avdiivka Coke Chemical Plant and the old part of the city," informed the head of the cityʼs military administration.
He added that the Russians continue to storm the positions of the Defense Forces in groups of 20-30 people from different directions.
Earlier, the spokesman of the General Staff of the Ukrainian Army reported that the occupiers are conducting active assaults near Avdiivka, Tonenke, Keramika and Pervomaiske.
- Vitaliy Barabash also spoke about the downed plane in the Avdiivka direction. Presumably, itʼs about the Russian Su-25, the downing of which was reported by the General Staff on October 10. According to the head of the cityʼs military administration, a Russian Mi-8 helicopter was also shot down.