Russian troops are trying to surround the city of Avdiyivka in eastern Donetsk region, Ukrainian military spokesman Oleksiy Dmytrashkivskyi said on Monday, adding that it could soon become “the second Bakhmut”, Kyiv Independent reports.

“However, not everything is so good in the Russian units that are attacking in this area,” Dmytrashkivskyi said on national television, Ukrainian Pravda quotes. “Over the past day, the enemy has lost about three companies of personnel there.”

According to him, Russia’s attacks on Avdiivka are identical and predictable, as its troops attack the city from the same place.

He added that during the last three days, Russian troops used their “last reserves” in the Avdiivka area.

Avdiyivka has been a front-line town since the first Russian invasion of Donbas in 2014 and has been largely destroyed.

Dmytroshkivskyi agreed with the latest assessment of the British Ministry of Defense regarding the situation on the battlefield near Avdiivka, published on March 20.

The ministry writes that tactically, the battle for Avdiivka will in many ways resemble the battle for Bakhmut, which has been wreaking havoc for the past seven months.

Russia used all its forces in Bakhmut to completely surround the city, said on March 17 the commander of the Ground Forces of Ukraine, Colonel-General Oleksandr Sirskyi. Fighting continues to the north, east and south of Bakhmut, he added.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder of the Russian state-backed mercenary group Wagner, which dominates Moscow’s efforts in the Bakhmut area, said on March 3 that the city was “virtually surrounded” by his forces.

The National Resistance Center of the Ukrainian Army called Prigozhin’s speech “a disinformation campaign aimed at creating panic among the population.”

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