Russian forces attempt to cut the only road leading to Avdiyivka and funnel additional forces to the Avdiyivka front. Almost half of Ukrainians believe that the war will last a long time, a survey finds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Constant Russian attacks on the road leading to Avdiyivka, in Donetsk region, complicate evacuation efforts and deliveries of humanitarian supplies to the city, head of the Avdiyivka city military administration, Vitaliy Barabash told RFE\/RL in a live interview on October 23. \u201cLogistics are very difficult. Twenty-two kilometers to the city are constantly under fire, both during the day and at night. It greatly complicates both evacuation and bringing in humanitarian aid. Any logistics is all through one road. Of course, the enemy is trying to cut it,\u201d Barabash said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe enemy tries to constantly keep [the road] under fire. Whenever they can and the weather permits, they launch Orlan drones to watch the road. They take any movement along the road as a signal to open fire,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There was no evacuation in the past three days, because people did not want to leave. As of the morning of October 23, there are still 1,601 civilians in Avdiyivka, Barabash said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cRussian forces are funneling additional forces to the Avdiivka front despite ongoing challenges with frontal mechanized assaults and the failure of a renewed push on October 19-20,\u201d the Institute for the Study of War wrote in its daily update.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Forty-nine per cent of Ukrainians believe that Russia has enough resources to continue its war in Ukraine for many more years, a survey conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology finds. The share is up 27 percentage points since February 2023. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The share of those who believe that Russia is depleting its resources and the war may end on Ukraine\u2019s terms soon has decreased from 67 per cent in February 2023 to 43 per cent in October 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The survey turned up regional differences in opinion. Only a majority of Ukrainians (57 per cent) living in the western part of the country say that Russia is running out of resources to wage the war. Yet, more than one-in-three (37 per cent) Ukrainians living in the West say that Russia\u2019s stockpiles are still brimming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The share of those who would accept territorial concessions to Russia to end the war among those who believe that Russia still has enough weapons (21 per cent) far exceeds the share among those who think that Russia\u2019s stockpiles are shrinking (seven per cent). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the same time, 73 per cent of Ukrainians who believe that the war will last a long time say they would not accept territorial concessions to Russia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Region-wise, 78 per cent of Ukrainians living in western and central Ukraine, and 66 per cent in the South and East of the country said so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n