Russia said on Sunday it was in control of the town in the
Donetsk region, but that Ukrainian units were entrenched at the plant -
Ukraine's last stronghold on the northwestern edges of Avdiivka.
"Russian flags were hoisted on the administrative
buildings of the plant," TASS state news agency cited a statement from the
defence ministry.
RIA state news agency published a short aerial muted video
showing sporadic blasts across what it seem like an industrial plant.
Reuters could not independently verify the video or the
reports.
The fall of Avdiivka is Russia's biggest gain since it
captured the city of Bakhmut in May 2023, and comes almost two years to the day
since President Vladimir Putin triggered a full-scale war by ordering the
invasion of Ukraine.
Avdiivka, which had a pre-war population of around 32,000
and is called Avdeyevka by Russians, was briefly taken in 2014 by Moscow-backed
separatists who seized a swathe of eastern Ukraine but was recaptured by
Ukrainian troops who built extensive fortifications.
Avdiivka sits in the industrial Donbas region, 15 km (9
miles) north of the Russian-occupied city of Donetsk. Before the war, the
Soviet-era coke plant was one of Europe's biggest.
There was no immediate comment from Ukraine.
But Saturday, Colonel-General Oleksandr Syrskyi,
Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine's armed forces said his troops had moved back to
more secure positions outside the town "to avoid encirclement and preserve
the lives and health of servicemen". Reuters