Battle in Ukraine shifts to 'post-apocalyptic' town

Moscow eyes Avdiivka amid flagging assault on Bakhmut; Kyiv planning next move

KYIV - Ukraine's ground forces commander said on Monday that Kyiv was planning its next move after Moscow shifted the focus of its offensive from a flagging assault on the eastern city of Bakhmut to another town farther south, described as post-apocalyptic.

The Ukrainian military aims to wear down Russian forces as much as possible before launching a counteroffensive in the coming weeks or months seeking to end the all-out invasion launched by Russian President Vladimir Putin 13 months ago.

Ukraine's ground forces commander, Colonel-General Oleksandr Syrskyi, who said last week that the counterattack could come "very soon", visited front-line troops in the east on Monday and said his forces were still repelling Russian attacks on Bakhmut.

Defending the small city in the industrialised Donbas region that Russia has tried to seize for months was a "military necessity", he said, praising Ukrainian resilience in "extremely difficult conditions".

"We are calculating all possible options for the development of events, and will react adequately to the current situation".

Ukrainian commander-in-chief Valery Zaluzhniy said on Saturday that the situation was being "stabilised" around Bakhmut, where Russian forces say they are fighting street by street.

Last week, the Ukrainian military warned that Avdiivka, a smaller town 90km farther south, could become a "second Bakhmut" as Russia turns its attention there.

Both towns have been reduced to rubble in fighting that both sides have called a "meat grinder".