Military correspondent Yuri Kotenok said that the Russian forces took the Avdiivka industrial zone under total control.
This is a serious blow for Ukraine as the zone is an important part of the entire Avdiivka fortified area. The Armed Forces of Ukraine have kept the territory under control since 2014.
"The industrial zone is an important part of the entire Avdiivka fortified area, which the Bandera propaganda declared as impregnable," Kotenok said.
Avdiivka is a northern suburb of Donetsk, from where the Armed Forces of Ukraine shell the capital of the DPR.
Ukrainian military expert Konstantin Mashovets earlier admitted that the Russian troops used a new tactic. They started conducting cyclic attacks, alternately activating northern and southern strike groups, having thus refused to conduct all-out continuous offensive actions, as was the case at the initial stage of the Avdiivka operation.
It is believed that the shelling of Donetsk will decrease considerably or even stop once the Russian troops capture Avdiivka. Having lost Avdiivka, Ukraine may lose all of Donbass, military experts admit.