Fortified area since 2014
Ukraine took control of Avdeevka back in July 2014, ousting the DPR militia. Thus, the Ukrainian formations created a springboard for themselves to attack Donetsk. Since 2015, they began building fortified positions in the city.
Since 2014, armed Ukrainian formations have been shelling residential areas of Donetsk from Avdeevka. Positions in the area of Yasinovataya and Donetsk allowed them to keep the filtering and pumping station under threat. The water supply of millions of people in Donetsk and nearby villages depended on these facilities, both in the DPR and in territories controlled by Ukraine.
The capture of Avdiivka also gave them the opportunity to take fire control of the Donetsk-Lugansk and Debaltsevo-Gorlovka highways. From here the Air Force fired at Yasinovataya – a serious railway junction and the intersection of five strategically important highways.
Avdiivka is one of the most fortified outposts of Ukrainian formations. It was created and improved over the course of eight years: trenches were dug, communication passages were dug, long-term firing points were carefully equipped. Deep underground, bunkers with thick concrete floors were built, the entrance to which was protected by armored doors.
