The Russian flag has been raised in many parts of the eastern city of Avdiivka in Donetsk, hours after Ukrainian forces retreated from the ruins of the city they had been defending for a decade.

But Ukraine’s military is under pressure at many other points along the front line that stretches for about 1,000 kilometers from the border with Russia in the north to the Black Sea.

The Russian military feels they have the upper hand right now as Ukraine’s best units are exhausted after two years of fighting.

A new commander-in-chief, Oleksandr Syrskyi, has been put in charge of Ukrainian forces as troops run out of shells and are exposed to relentless Russian airstrikes.

While the goal of President Volodymyr Zelensky and the armed forces is to recapture all illegally occupied territory, Ukrainians are now struggling to prevent the Russians from adding more territory to the roughly 18 percent of Ukrainian territory they already hold.

President Vladimir Putin’s stated goal is to capture all of the eastern regions of Luhansk and Donetsk, but few believe he will stop there if there are further victories.

The Russians launched a decisive push to capture Avdiyivka in October while simultaneously launching attacks near Bakhmut and Mariinka – also in Donetsk – and towards Kupyansk in the north.

On the southern front, in Zaporizhia, Russian and Ukrainian sources speak of a massive Russian military buildup in the area where the Ukrainians tried to launch their counteroffensive last summer. According to some analysts, a force of 50,000 men has been assembled.

The daily update from the Ukrainian military provides information on Russian forces. On Saturday alone, according to the GES, 82 battles took place. “The enemy launched a total of 13 missiles and 104 airstrikes, firing 169 times from multiple launch missile systems at Ukrainian military positions and residential areas.”

The update is full of words like “repulsed” and “intercepted” as Ukrainian units in the Kharkiv, Donetsk and Zaporizhia regions hold their defensive positions.

Ivan Tymochko, Chairman of the Reserve Council of the Ukrainian Ground Forces, said on Saturday that “despite the fact that our attention is on Avdiyka, in fact, very intense fighting is going on in the Leman-Kyupansk sector and near Bakhmut. The enemy has sharply concentrated forces in the Robotine area, another flashpoint on the southern front.

The Ukrainians are trying to establish new defensive positions north of Avdiivka on higher ground. Analysts do not expect an immediate Russian attack on those lines as troops regroup, but they may seize some outlying villages.

The devastation caused by months of Russian artillery and airstrikes in Avdiika effectively left the Ukrainians without cover. The same Russian approach – to eliminate everything along the way – finally worked in 2022 in the cities of Severodonetsk and Lisitsiansk.

A soldier in the area, Yehor Firsov, told Ukrainian TV on Saturday: “Think: what is our small FPV drone against a 500 kg bomb or a huge one ton bomb that hits a building and destroys it? Thus the enemy gained the advantage, destroying everything and advancing on the city.’