NATO admiral on Avdiivka: Not significant loss, pessimists don't win wars

"Militarily, it’s not a big loss (Avdiivka, - ed.). They destroyed the whole infrastructure. So you don’t have a city. You have another couple of hundred meters,” Bauer said.

As reported, the enemy seized Avdiivka at the cost of significant losses and ammunition. However, the terrorist country is far from winning the war. According to assessments from "over ten European military officials and experts," the situation on the battlefield is serious, but Ukraine is not facing collapse or major setbacks on the front lines.

"Pessimists lose wars. Is it difficult for Ukraine? Yes. If you would have asked in 1942 in Europe, ‘How is the war going?’ I don’t think there were a lot of people that were overly optimistic. We still won," Bauer added.

In particular, former Atlantic Council analyst Christopher Skaluba shares Brower's opinion.

"I don’t think the sky is falling just yet. The Russians don’t seem to be going away, but the Ukrainians aren’t either," he said.

Battle for Avdiivka

The Russian army initiated an offensive on Avdiivka at the beginning of October. According to British intelligence, Avdiivka remains the main direction for Russia on the front line.

Later, the Third Assault Brigade confirmed that they had been redeployed to the Avdiivka area to reinforce Ukrainian defense. Defenders shared footage from the city and noted that the battles in this sector are tougher than those in Bahmut.

Yesterday, on February 16, the commander of the OSA Tavria Alexander Tarnavskyi announced the decision to withdraw from the Zenit position on the southeast outskirts of Avdiivka. Later, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Alexander Syrskyi, stated that our troops had left the city to avoid being surrounded by the enemy.

As noted by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the decision to withdraw the military was fair and professional.