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Vuhledar, a town Ukrainian forces fought tooth and nail to keep,
is the latest urban settlement to fall to the Russians as the
war stretches deep into its third year and the Ukrainian army is
gradually being pushed backward in the eastern Donetsk province.
It follows a vicious summer campaign along the eastern front
that saw Kyiv cede several thousand square kilometers (square
miles) of territory as the Russian army hacks its way westward,
obliterating towns and villages with missiles, glide bombs,
artillery and drones.
Ukraine’s Khortytsia ground forces formation, which commands
eastern regions including Donetsk, said in a statement posted on
Telegram it was withdrawing troops from Vuhledar to “protect
military personnel and equipment.”
“In an attempt to take control of the city at any cost,
(Russian) reserves were directed to carry out flanking attacks,
which exhausted the defense of the units of the Armed Forces of
Ukraine. As a result of the enemy’s actions, there arose a
threat of encircling the city,” the statement said.
The tactical significance of the town, situated at the
confluence of two major roads, is two-fold. Dominant heights and
proximity to railway lines offer Moscow greater protection for
their own logistics routes, and a better vantage point for
attacks against Ukrainian forces and supply lines feeding the
south.
Its capture is another notch in Moscow’s belt, bringing it
closer to the key logistics hub of Pokrovsk.
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