Minister: Around 1,000 civilians remain in Avdiivka.

Around 1,000 residents remain in Donetsk Oblast's town of Avdiivka, which has recently come under intense attacks by Russian forces, Deputy Prime Minister and Reintegration Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said on Oct.

24. "Avdiivka - now, according to our data, about 1,000 people still live there," Vereshchuk said on the air. The official called on people to leave the besieged town for their own safety.

Vereshchuk also noted, citing the Donetsk Oblast Military Administration, that all children have been evacuated from Avdiivka. Russia intensified its attacks on Avdiivka last week in an effort to encircle the front-line town. According to Vitalii Barabash, the head of the town's military administration, Russian forces are shelling a crucial road connection, thus disrupting the evacuations and the flow of humanitarian aid.

Kyiv reported that despite the ongoing onslaught, Ukrainian defenders are holding the defenses and inflicting heavy losses on Russian troops and equipment. The heavily fortified town of Avdiivka lies several kilometers north of occupied Donetsk and has stood on the front lines of the Russia-Ukraine war since 2014.

General Staff: Russia launches major attack across entire eastern front Russian forces are launching heavy attacks in many sectors of the eastern front, including in the Avdiivka, Kupiansk, Lyman, Bakhmut, and Marinka directions, the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces reported on Oct.

23.

News Editor

Martin Fornusek is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent. He has previously worked as a news content editor at the media company Newsmatics and is a contributor to Euromaidan Press. He also volunteers as an editor and translator at the Czech-language version of Ukrainer.

Martin studied at Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia, holding a bachelor's degree in security studies and history and a master's degree in conflict and democracy studies.