Russian claims full control of Ukraine's Avdiivka town

Moscow: Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has said Moscow has taken full control of Ukarine's Avdiivka town.

The troops of the Center group, led by Lieutenant General Andrey Mordvichev, had completely captured Avdiivka, the defence ministry announced on its Telegram channel, Xinhua news agency reported.

Ukraine had lost more than 1,500 servicemen in Avdiivka in the last 24 hours, the defence ministry said.

The full control of Avdiivka had allowed the Russian troops to push back the front line from Donetsk, thus significantly securing the military from Ukrainian attacks, the ministry added.

Ukrainian Armed Forces commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrsky on Saturday said that the country has ordered withdrawal of troops from Avdiivka town.

In a post on social media, Syrsky said: "To avoid encirclement and preserve the lives and health of servicemen, I decided to withdraw our units from the city and move to defence on more favorable lines."