Shoigu told Putin that Avdeyevka is under full control of the Russian Defense Ministry

MOSCOW, February 17 /TASS/. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has informed President Vladimir Putin that the town of Avdeyevka near Donetsk has been fully captured, the Defense Ministry said. The ministry stressed that information about the Russian troops' advance was not made public until the enemy was completely defeated and full control over the locality was established

"Today in the Kremlin, Russian Defense Minister Army General Sergei Shoigu informed Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Armed Forces Vladimir Putin that the troop group Sred, under the command of Colonel General Andrei Mordvichev, has taken full control of the town of Avdeyevka in the Donetsk People's Republic, which was a massive fortified stronghold of the Ukrainian army," the Defense Ministry said.

An area of 31.75 square kilometres was liberated from Ukrainian nationalists. Enemy casualties in the fighting for Avdeyevka in the last 24 hours alone exceeded 1,500 men.

Only scattered groups of Ukrainian gunmen, who abandoned their weapons and military equipment, managed to escape under continued Russian fire. Measures are currently being taken to clear the town of the gunmen and close in on the Ukrainian forces that fled the site and have anchored themselves at the Avdeyevka coke factory and chemical plant, the defence ministry said.

The ministry stressed that information on the progress of Russian troops was not made public until the enemy had been completely defeated and full control of the site had been established.

"The liberation of Avdeyevka has made it possible to move the front line away from Donetsk and thus significantly secure it from terrorist strikes by the criminal Kiev regime. The troop group Centre continues offensive operations to further liberate the Donetsk People's Republic from Ukrainian nationalists," the ministry added.

TASS/gnews.cz-JaV_07

https://tass.com/politics/1747997