Oleh was among the last to flee the nearly encircled Zenit, a key position that has held off the Russian advance toward Avdiivka from the south since 2014. In a bunker at the Zenit, a former air defense base, Oleh and his older comrade, Vasyl, said their goodbyes to the wounded. Of the six lying on the floor, Oleh was particularly close with Ivan, who he described as a young, sincere man who was hoping to see his family soon.
In a rushed withdrawal, Ukraine's military reportedly left behind 100s of troops as Russia overran Avdiivka, in the east of country, after 4-month assault.
DONETSK OBLAST – “Our working hours are as follows: first you do a 12-hour shift, then another one, until you’ve done seven of these 24-hour-shifts, and that’s your week” said Oleksandr Kolesnikov, a 47-year-old surgeon, sitting hunched over on a bench-turned-overflow hospital bed at a Ukrainian stabilization point in a sleepy village in Donetsk Oblast. Kolesnikov, together with a small medical team, treats soldiers of the 110th Mechanized Brigade, which has stood at the forefront of Ukraine’s defense of the industrial city of Avdiivka, just north of Donetsk, occupied since 2014. The unit has fought near Avdiivka ever since it was formed in March 2022 at the outset of Russia’s full-scale invasion, but now, the city has for the first time become the undisputed hotspot of the war.