'There are no more children' in Avdiivka, as the assault continues

We accomplished the mammoth task of locating and persuading a family with a 12-year-old boy from Avdiivka, a city in eastern Ukraine under relentless attack by Russian forces, to move out. This indicates that no children are left in Avdiivka now - stated Vitaliy Barabash, the city's mayor, on Tuesday.

Notably, almost all the municipalities along the front line also have no children remaining - Barabash added during a discussion on Hromadske radio.

This November, Ukrainian volunteer Vitaliy Zhuchkov conveyed distressing news that Avdiivka, now left in ruins, houses as few as 300-400 residents. Despite the authorities' repeated pleas, these residents determinedly maintained their decision not to leave their city.

In April, reports surfaced about an operation to locate in Avdiivka initially four, and later on, one child, who had been concealed by their parents from evacuation.

Avdiivka has remained a continual "thorn in the side" for the Russians since 2014, as from this location, Ukrainians can maintain control over the enemy's firing range across the occupied Donetsk. The foe aims to seize Avdiivka, assuming it to be our strategic position for launching an offense on Donetsk - Ukrainian military expert Olexiy Hetman pointed out in mid-October.

Over the recent couple of months, both Ukrainian officials and media have underscored that the ongoing Russian assault on Avdiivka is not only the most significant since the onset of the current encroachment but also since the start of combat in Donbas in 2014. On October 28, Ukraine's Minister of Defense, Rustem Umerov, announced that an estimated 4,000 enemy combatants had likely already been killed in the vicinity of Avdiivka.