Why the Fall of Avdiivka is a Huge Victory for Putin

For Russians, the capture of the fortress town marks the end of a long and tragic story that started ten years ago this month.

Joe Brunoli
10 min readFeb 26, 2024

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Last week the Eastern Ukrainian town of Avdiivka finally fell to the Russian onslaught. The town, which The New York Times described as a “longtime stronghold” of the Kiev regime, had formed the linchpin of the Ukrainian defensive lines along the Donetsk oblast, and its loss was a cause for despair among Ukrainians and solemn celebration among Russians.

Russian soldiers raise their unit flag in Avdiivka. [Source: The Guardian — video screen grab]

For some western media outlets, this huge Russian victory is being downplayed. For example Euronews ran the story with a comically weak subtitle:

“Experts are saying the capture of the city in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine is not a significant operation victory for Moscow”.

These “experts” however are not mentioned or even cited in the article — probably because they do not exist.

In fact, the capture of Avdiivka is a giant victory for the Russian people — and a major propaganda win for Putin.

Why Avdiivka matters to Russians

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Joe Brunoli

Joe is a Yank with dual US-EU citizenship and comments on trends, politics and more. Buy Joe a coffee here: https://ko-fi.com/euroyankee