The newspaper cited senior Western officials and soldiers fighting in Ukraine as saying that the retreat of Ukrainian troops from Avdeyevka is a devastating loss that could deal a blow to already weakening morale and may be more significant than it initially seemed.
The report also cited officials as saying that the Ukrainian withdrawal was ill-planned and began too late, but American officials told the newspaper that the loss of Avdeyevka was not a significant strategic setback.
However, the report said, American officials believe that morale among Ukrainian soldiers was already eroding against the background of a failed counteroffensive in 2022 and the removal of Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Valery Zaluzhny, which may further complicate Kiev's efforts to recruit soldiers.
On Saturday, Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrsky announced the decision to withdraw troops from Avdeyevka, a northern suburb of Donetsk. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the decision to pull out the troops had been made to "save people's lives." Later, the Russian Defense Ministry said that the Russian military had taken full control of the city of Avdeyevka.