In recent days, the Russian army has stepped up its attack on the city of Avdiyivka in eastern Ukraine, the mayor of the city, which has become the target of the Kremlin’s main offensive in the area, said on Thursday, AFP reports.

Avdiivka became a cemetery of Russian tanksPhoto: east2west news / WillWest News / Profimedia

“In recent days, the enemy has become more active, mainly in the direction (of the city’s industrial zone), carrying out offensive actions with the help of armored vehicles,” Vitaly Baraba said on Ukrainian television, Agerpres notes.

According to him, the situation is “extremely tense” and the Russians are “almost 24 hours a day attacking from the flanks, from the south, less from the north, striking positions around the city.”

In recent months, Russia has launched a major offensive on Avdiivka, but has made no noticeable progress. Instead, it suffered huge losses in armored vehicles and soldiers.

On Thursday morning, the Ukrainian army reported that Russia had lost 1,130 soldiers in the last day.

The video released by Ukraine shows the extent of Russian casualties near Avdiivka.

Kyiv claims that Russia’s goal is to surround the city, which is considered the gateway to occupied Ukraine, but so far it has failed to do so.

Moscow lost more than 6,000 troops and more than 400 armored vehicles in just one week near Avdiivka last month, Ukraine claims.

The heavy losses of armored vehicles in Avdiivka show that Russia “has not learned any lessons on how to properly conduct mechanized maneuver warfare,” according to ISW, which says the Russian military is repeating mistakes made at the start of the invasion.

The industrial city of Avdiyivka, where about 30,000 people lived before the war, is now largely destroyed. Only 1,500 people live now in the city without being bombed.

In July 2014, the city of Avdiyivka briefly came under the control of pro-Russian separatists armed by Moscow, and then returned to Ukrainian control.

Since then, Avdiivka has been the front line in this area, but the Russians launched a large-scale offensive in early October with the aim of encircling and later conquering this city. Gradually, the Russian troops managed to advance to the north and south of Avdiivka.