“There are quite a large number of prisoners... In general terms, I can say that the enemy was forced to surrender in order to save his life. And the information that I have is quite a considerable amount,” said the head of the republic, as quoted by TASS.
If necessary, the Ministry of Defense will publish more accurate information, Pushilin noted.
On February 17, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu reported to President Vladimir Putin about the capture of Avdeevka. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the Ukrainian Armed Forces lost more than 1.5 thousand military personnel in the battles for Avdeevka per day.
As the Russian Ministry of Defense emphasized, the order of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Alexander Syrsky to abandon Avdievka was issued only a day after the uncontrolled flight of the Armed Forces of Ukraine began.
The defense department also emphasized that the liberation of the city by Russian troops made it possible to move the front line away from Donetsk.