On Jan. 29, the fighting in Avdiyivka, a city in eastern Ukraine within Ukrainian government-controlled territory, seriously escalated. The fighting began close to the demarcation line and six kilometers north of Donetsk (see map), and continued until at least Feb. 3. According to official reports, thirteen Ukrainian soldiers were killed and 93 were wounded since the fighting intensified. Three civilians were killed and one wounded, and a British journalist was wounded and later operated on in the Dnipro hospital. Heavy shelling from the separatist-controlled territories also affected nearby residential areas. The town was cut off from electricity, heat, and water supplies, and repairs could not begin immediately due to continued hostilities, despite the brutally cold temperatures.
Now Avdiyivka is slowly recovering. Water, heat, and electricity were finally restored on Feb. 6. The Ukrainian government-controlled side’s response to the shooting targeted Donetsk and its suburbs; the city also suffered from cuts in water and electricity supplies, which were restored on Feb. 6. Hostilities also escalated near the towns of Mariupol, Mariyinka, Opytne, Pisky, Popasna, and others. The OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine reports of a drastic, unprecedented increase in the number of ceasefire violations within the Avdiyivka-Yasynuvata-Donetsk airport triangle since Jan. 29.
