After one of the bloodiest fights of the war, Moscow said on Sunday that it had complete control of the Ukrainian town of Avdiivka following Ukraine’s withdrawal. However, Moscow also claimed that some Ukrainian troops were still holed up in a sizable coke plant from the Soviet era.

Nearly two years to the day President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine, Russia has achieved its greatest victory since taking Bakhmut in May 2023 with the fall of Avdiivka.

The Russian defence ministry reported that after a bloody urban combat that left the town nearly completely depopulated, Russian troops had pushed 8.6 km (5.3 miles) in that section of the 1,000 km (620 mile) front line.

Russia portrayed the Ukrainian pullout as hurried and disorganised, leaving some troops and armaments behind. Although there had been losses, the Ukrainian military claimed that following the withdrawal, things had partially normalised.

After eight years of fighting in eastern Ukraine between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian Ukrainians and Russian proxies, Putin dispatched tens of thousands of troops into the country in February 2022, sparking a full-scale battle.

Avdiivka, or Avdeyevka as the Russians call it, has seen ten years of fighting. It is especially symbolic for Russia since, in 2014, separatists backed by Moscow briefly occupied it and took control of a large portion of eastern Ukraine. However, Ukrainian troops retook the area and fortified it extensively.