Russian Regiments Collide With Ukraine’s Rebuilt Defensive Line—And Lose 80 Vehicles In One Day. More than 17,000 Russian soldiers were is lost capturing Avdiivka in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region. The capture of the city on Saturday was the Kremlin’s first major battlefield victory since its conquest of Bakhmut in May but analysts have said that it came at a terrible cost. Russian forces planted their victory flags over the ruins of Avdiivka on Saturday.