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One week after the second anniversary of the start of the

war in Ukraine

, Kiev forces have announced the withdrawal of their troops from the city of

Avdivka

in the face of the advance of Russian soldiers.

"Taking into account the operational situation around Avdivka, in order to avoid encirclement and preserve the life and health of the military, I decided to withdraw our units from the city and move to the defense on more favorable lines," the new commander announced. Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine,

Oleksandr Sirski

, on his Facebook account.

"We are taking measures to stabilize the situation and maintain our positions. The life of military personnel is the highest value. We will return to Avdivka," the head of the Army promised.

Avdivka was one of the main strongholds in the

Donetsk

region and one of the most coveted objectives of the Russian Army after taking over the cities of

Bakhmut

and

Marinka

.

Update narration

9 o'clock

More than 100 detained in Russia in tributes to Navalny

Russian police detained more than 100 people in spontaneous rallies in tribute to the late opposition figure Alexei Navalny, who died in prison on Friday, the human rights group OVD-Info reported this Saturday.

The organization indicated on its website that, according to its balance sheet on Saturday morning, "more than 101 people were detained in ten cities", the majority in Saint Petersburg and eleven in the capital, Moscow.

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7:50

Sirski's first big decision

The withdrawal from Avdivka is the first major military decision of the new head of the Ukrainian army, Oleksander Sirski,

appointed on February 8

.

Sirski noted that the Ukrainian soldiers "did their military duty with dignity, did everything possible to destroy the best Russian military units and inflicted significant losses on the enemy in terms of personnel and equipment."

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7:40

Avdivka Withdrawal

The Ukrainian army has announced the withdrawal of its troops from the city of

Avdivka

in the face of the advance of Russian soldiers.

"Taking into account the operational situation around Avdivka, in order to avoid encirclement and preserve the life and health of the military, I decided to withdraw our units from the city and move to the defense on more favorable lines," the new commander announced. Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine,

Oleksandr Sirski

, on his Facebook account.

Since October, Ukrainian soldiers, outnumbered and materially, resisted the Russian assaults against this town in the Donbas mining basin, where the situation had become especially critical in recent days.

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