Ukraine breaks through encirclement and counterattacks in 'a second Bakhmut'.

Ukraine counterattacked and made progress after a long siege by Russian forces in Avdeevka, the city dubbed "the second Bakhmut".

"Location-identified images show Ukrainian forces making advances near the railway line southeast of the village of Stepove, about 3 km northwest of the city of Avdeevka," a November 19 battlefield report from the US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) stated.

According to reports, several Russian military bloggers also confirmed that Ukrainian forces had seized several positions near the railway line next to the village of Stepove, as well as launched a counterattack near the Avdeevka Coke Plant, Ukraine's largest coke production plant. The reports stated that Russian troops launched several attacks near Avdeevka, a city in the Donetsk province, but made no progress.

Oleksandr Shtupun, spokesman for Ukraine's southern front, said on the same day that Russian forces suffered heavy losses near Avdeevka, forcing them to mobilize additional troops and soldiers from the punitive unit to reinforce their forces. The Ukrainian army also claimed to have repelled 26 Russian attacks on the Avdeevka front.

Ukrainian soldiers during training near the front lines in Donetsk on October 15. Photo: EFE/EPA — Ukrainian soldiers during training near the front lines in Donetsk on October 15. Photo: *EFE*

The Russian Ministry of Defense has not commented on the information, but said that its forces repelled six Ukrainian attacks, killing 240 soldiers, destroying one tank, one infantry fighting vehicle, two combat vehicles and one howitzer on the Donetsk front on November 19.

In mid-October, Russia deployed a force equivalent to three brigades to attack Avdeevka, a key town located north of Donetsk, the capital of the province of the same name, with a population of approximately 32,000 before the outbreak of hostilities.

Capturing Avdeevka would allow the Russian army to expand its front line by 50-60 km, creating a gateway from the capital Donetsk to other cities, such as Kostiantynivka in the north, thereby moving closer to the goal of completely controlling the Donetsk province.

Russian forces then formed a pincer movement, encircling Avdeevka from the north, south, and east, leaving Kyiv only able to maintain supplies and troop reinforcements to the city from the west.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on November 14 that Russia was suffering casualties and equipment losses near Avdeevka at a "faster pace and scale" than the fighting in Bakhmut. Vitaliy Barabash, the head of the Avdeevka administration appointed by Kyiv, said on November 13 that at least 3,000 Russian soldiers had been killed and 7,000 wounded after more than a month of fighting there.