February 18, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Alexander Syrsky, together with Minister of Defense Rustem Umerov, visited Askold’s grave in the center of Kiev, where they honored the memory of the brave soldiers who died in the battles for Debaltsevo, Donetsk region in 2015. Here they promised that the Ukrainian flag would definitely be raised over Avdiivka again.
The commander in chief himself announced this on his Telegram channel.
At Askold’s grave there is a monument erected in memory of our struggle in the Debaltsevo direction.
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— The battles for Debaltsevo are for me not only a term for the history of our ten-year war for Independence against Russian aggression. The battles for Debaltsevo are also part of my personal life, — indicated Syrsky.
In 2015, the current commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian army was one of the commanders of the anti-terrorist operation forces at the Debaltseve bridgehead. One of the tasks that was assigned to him was to coordinate the withdrawal of Ukrainian units from Debaltsevo.
—Thank you very much to the military chaplains of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church for the perfect prayer for the Ukrainian soldiers, — designated by Syrsky.
Telegram channel of Oleksandr Sirsky
The general also emphasized that two more brave warriors of the full-scale aggression of the Russian Federation are buried here — the legendary Dmitry Kotsyubailo with the call sign Da Vinci and Andrey Pilshchikov – Juice. Here the high military command of Ukraine also honored the heroes with memory.
—I know for sure, we will return to Debaltsevo, we will return to Uglegorsk, Logvinovo, Redkodub, and finally we will return to our Ukrainian Avdeevka and Donetsk. We will liberate all our native Ukrainian lands!, — Syrsky summarized.
Battles for Debaltsevo
Fierce battles for Debaltseve lasted during the period of January 21 — February 18, 2015.
This city has an important railway junction, and lies at the crossroads of two highways of international importance: M03, heading towards Kharkov — Bakhmut — Russian border to Rostov-on-Don, and M04 connecting Lugansk with Donetsk.
According to media reports, from January 18 to February 18, 179 Ukrainian servicemen were killed on the battlefield.
According to the lists of names of the dead, the number of killed is estimated at 256 soldiers. The 30th mechanized brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces suffered the heaviest losses — 43 warriors.
Battles for Avdiivka
The fighting for Avdiivka began in February 2022. By May 2023, all buildings in the city had been damaged or destroyed by Russian shelling, according to local authorities. Previously, the population of Avdeevka was about 35 thousand people; during full-scale military operations, less than 2 thousand inhabitants remained.
In October 2023, the Russian army launched a massive assault on the city.
By February 17, 2024, Avdeevka was taken “in pincers” Russian occupiers, Ukrainian troops were forced to leave the city to save personnel.
