Reference News Network on February 19** According to the Russian Satellite Agency on February 19**, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced on the 19th that the Russian army has fully controlled the coking plant in Avdeyevka.
According to reports, the Ministry of Defense previously released information that the Russian army is preparing to carry out the final liquidation of the Ukrainian army in Avdeyevka, including the Ukrainian army units entrenched in the coking plant.
* According to the Ministry of Defense, the Russian army "took control of the coking plant in the Avdeyevka direction by launching an offensive." The Russian flag was erected on the administrative buildings of the plant".
* The Ministry of Defense noted that the units of the Ukrainian army continue to disperse.
* The Ministry of Defense added that the Russian army is destroying enemy fortified areas through artillery and aviation fire, and the Russian army is continuing to carry out active operations.
*The Ministry of Defense posted on social media on the evening of the 17th that Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu reported to the Supreme Commander of the Russian Armed Forces Putin on the same day that the Russian army had fully controlled the city of Avdeyevka, which was once an important defense hub of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The Russian army is taking measures to continue to clear the city of Ukrainian military personnel and surround the Ukrainian troops still stranded in the Avdeyevka coking plant.
In the early morning of the 17th local time, Syrsky, commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, announced on social ** that under the current war situation, in order to avoid the encirclement of the Ukrainian army and protect the lives and health of Ukrainian officers and soldiers, he decided to withdraw the Ukrainian army from Avdeyevka to a more favorable line of defense for defensive operations.