Ukrainian Armed Forces deny New York Times report on up to 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers captured near Avdiivka

Kyiv, Ukraine (Svidomi) — The New York Times has reported that up to a thousand Ukrainian soldiers were captured by the Russians during the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from Avdiivka. The Tavriia operational-strategic group responsible for the Avdiivka area denied this information. 

The New York Times called the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from Avdiivka "chaotic". It also cited two anonymous soldiers who gave a range of 850 to 1,000 soldiers who were captured or missing. 

Dmytro Lykhovii, Head of the Public Relations Department of the Tavriia Operational Strategic Group, told Ukrainian journalists that the data on prisoners is still being verified, but it is by no means hundreds of soldiers, as the NYT reported.

He says that NYT journalists have spread the Russian narrative.

"The sources they cite are untenable, because there are no such people, and this is not a fact," Lykhovii says.

Earlier, Tarnavskyi, commander of the Tavriia operational-strategic group, reported that several Ukrainian soldiers had been taken prisoner during the withdrawal from Avdiivka.