NYT reports "hundreds" of Ukrainian POWs in Avdiivka, ZSU call it "complete fabrication"

The Armed Forces of Ukraine have refuted information from The New York Times about "hundreds" of Ukrainian military personnel supposedly captured by Russia during the defense withdrawal from Avdiivka.

Dmytro Lykhoviy, head of public relations for the Tavria operational-strategic group, stated in a telethon that NYT journalists disseminated a Russian narrative, labeling the information as inaccurate.

On February 20th, NYT published an article suggesting that "hundreds" of Ukrainian service members could have been captured or gone missing during the retreat from Avdiivka.

The journalists wrote that "two soldiers aware of the retreat" shared their "estimates" with them – supposedly between 850 to 1000 defenders were captured or considered missing. Unnamed "Western officials" told NYT that this range "seems accurate."

Lykhoviy expressed his disappointment commenting on the article, saying, "We were unpleasantly surprised by this publication because we had given our comment on this matter... Whether intentionally or accidentally, the NYT authors have spread a Russian propagandist narrative without any substantiation. The sources they refer to are utterly unreliable because such people do not exist, and it's not factual."

He said that the Ukrainian Armed Forces did not hide or deny that after the withdrawal from Avdiivka, "a certain portion" of defenders lost contact.

Lykhoviy noted that Russia, having suffered significant losses in Avdiivka, is now spreading fakes picked up by some global media.

"These claims by Russian propaganda about hundreds and thousands of POWs are complete misinformation, which is unsubstantiated," Lykhoviy stated.

He recalled the events in Mariupol when Ukrainian forces were exiting Azovstal. At that time, Russian propaganda distributed videos of hundreds of fighters being disarmed. Currently, no such footage exists, leading Lykhoviy to declare it "complete lies" from the Russian side.

"Yes, there are POWs, but their number is in no way in the hundreds," the Armed Forces of Ukraine spokesperson said.

Read also: Russians report suicide of militant close to terrorist Girkin amid leaked Avdiivka losses