Tavriia Group spokesman on Russia's losses: Battle of Avdiivka successfully drained Russian reserves

Russia’s losses in the area of responsibility of the Tavriia Operational Strategic Group of Forces, which includes the Avdiivka front, comprise 20,500 military personnel since 1 January 2024. Ukraine did not suffer heavy losses while withdrawing its defence forces from Avdiivka.

Source: Dmytro Lykhovii, spokesman for the Tavriia Operational and Strategic Group of Forces, on Ukrainska Pravda’s UP.Pidsumky (Ukrainska Pravda Summary)

Quote from Lykhovii: "Russia’s losses on the Avdiivka front are enormous. My colleagues and I have made an estimate based on archival data from the beginning of this year. This covers not only the Avdiivka front, but also the enemy’s overall losses across the operational area overseen by the Khortytsia Operational and Strategic Group of Forces (presumably the spokesperson was referring to the Tavriia Operational Strategic Group – ed.), which stretches from Avdiivka to the boundary of the Odesa Operational and Strategic Group of Forces in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. But the majority of these numbers relate specifically to the Avdiivka front.

The enemy’s total losses between 1 January and 16 February inclusive amounted to 20,607 personnel, 201 tanks and 492 armoured combat vehicles."

Details: Lykhovii said that Avdiivka "has fulfilled its mission of draining the Russian reserve".

He also said that as of the evening of Saturday, 17 February, "all the units of [Ukraine’s] Defence Forces that were in danger of being encircled in Avdiivka have been transferred to more favourable defensive positions, where they continue to carry out combat missions and to prevent the enemy from advancing further".

Lykhovii stressed that the encirclement of Ukrainian soldiers has been prevented.

He did not specify how many Ukrainian soldiers were killed or taken prisoner by Russian forces while they were withdrawing from Avdiivka. He said this data has yet to be verified and some of those who are currently missing might yet establish contact with their units over the course of the coming days, since Ukrainian forces "had technical difficulties with communication devices" overnight.

Quote from Lykhovii: "This operation did not turn into a tragedy for the Ukrainian forces. It’s nowhere near what happened in Ilovaisk, Mariupol or other instances when our forces ended up encircled. We were not encircled here [...]

The overall number of losses over the course of the day gives us no cause to describe this as something extraordinary. It’s similar to the average daily losses."

Background: 

• On the night of 16-17 February, Oleksandr Syrskyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, announced the withdrawal of Ukrainian units from Avdiivka.
• President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Russia's losses in Avdiivka were seven times higher than Ukraine's.
• Meanwhile, Oleksandr Tarnavskyi, Commander of the Tavriia Operational and Strategic Group of Forces (OSGF), reported that Ukraine will be appealing to international humanitarian organisations and intermediary countries regarding the "certain number" of Ukrainian soldiers captured in Avdiivka.
• Oleksandr Borodin, spokesman for the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade, said that as of the evening of Saturday, 17 February, most Ukrainian forces had left Avdiivka. The brigade is not aware of large numbers of Ukrainian soldiers being taken prisoner by the Russians.

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