Over the weekend, Ukraine’s 115th Brigade was ordered to replace the 47th where they were defending the front line just east of Ocheretyne.

But as the 47th were pulling back, Russian forces launched an attack that put them within striking distance of the newly fortified defensive lines between the frontline and a 20-mile-wide area of undefended land leading to the city of Pokrovsk, a key logistical hub for Kyiv’s defence of the Donbas.

Mykola Melnyk, a company commander in the 47th who lost a leg during the summer offensive, wrote on social media: “The drastic advancement of the Russians became possible because certain units just f—ed off positions.

“Hope they get trained and retrained into stormtroopers.”

The gap created by the absent 115th allowed Russia’s 30th Motor Rifle Brigade to push along a railway line running north west out of Avdiivka into Ocheretyne.

The latest update by the authoritative Ukrainian Deep State website, which maps changes on the battlefield, on Wednesday showed the majority of the village under the control of Russian forces.