Ukrainian forces have reportedly evacuated the settlement of Lastochkino west of Avdeyevka under threat of encirclement by Russian troops.
"Ukrainian forces are reporting the abandonment of Lastochkino west of Avdeyevka. In their words, the flanks and supply routes of the Ukrainian Armed Forces were under threat, so a decision was made to withdraw," Ukrainian media reported Saturday.
Earlier in the day, Russian military correspondents on the ground reported that the Donetsk village had fallen to units of the 41st Guards Combined Arms Army, contradicting assurances by Ukraine's General Staff that attacks in the Lastochkino and Severny areas had been repelled.
Lastochkino is situated some 3 km directly west of northern Avdeyevka, or about 4.5 km northwest of the city center, and about 12 km northwest of the city of Donetsk.
Avdeyevka is the latest major settlement to be freed in the grinding Russian advance in the Donbass, where Ukrainian forces had spent close to a decade creating an 'uncrackable' fortified defensive line with US and NATO assistance. In the past two months, Russian forces also advanced into Maryinka and Veseloye to Donetsk's west and north, respectively.
The Russian offensive through the Donbass is widely expected to take some of the pressure off the 600,000+ civilian residents of Donetsk, who have faced nearly two years of virtually non-stop heavy shelling by Ukrainian forces (and more sporadic artillery attacks through the eight years before that).