- Ukrainian forces have withdrawn from the area of Khashiv Yar, a strategically important town in the eastern Donetsk region.
- Chasif Yar is located near Bakhmut, which Russia captured last year, and its fall could put nearby cities at risk.
- Relentless Russian shelling left Chasiv Yar in ruins, the town deserted, and homes and offices burned.
Ukrainian troops have withdrawn from an area on the outskirts of Khashiv Yar, a strategic town in eastern Donetsk Oblast that was reduced to rubble by months of Russian offensives, a military spokesman said on Thursday.
Hasif Yar lies a short distance west of Bakhmut, which was captured by Russia last year after 10 months of fierce fighting. For months Russian forces have focused on capturing the high ground town of Hasif Yar, whose fall would endanger nearby cities, jeopardize Ukraine’s vital supply routes, and bring Russia closer to its goal of occupying the entire Donetsk region.
Ukrainian forces have withdrawn from the northeastern district of the town, Khortytsya ground forces spokesman Nazar Voloshin told The Associated Press in a written statement on Thursday.
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He said Ukrainian military defences in the town had been “destroyed”, adding that troops risked serious casualties if they remained in the area and that Russian forces had “left not a single building intact”.
Ukrainian sailors drive a British FV103 Spartan armored personnel carrier on the road leading to the town of Khashiv Yar in the Donetsk region, March 30, 2024. Ukrainian forces have withdrawn from the area outside Khashiv Yar. (Roman Pilipei/AFP via Getty Images)
Months of relentless Russian shelling have devastated Chashiv Yar, burning down homes and the town hall and leaving the town, which once had a population of 12,000, in ruins.
Ole Siriyyaev, commander of the 255th Assault Battalion, which has been stationed in the area for six months, said that after Russian forces occupied the area, they burned all buildings that had not been destroyed by artillery fire.
Siryaev said Russia was conducting a scorched earth tactic to destroy everything that could be used as a military base in order to force its troops out.
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“It is unfortunate that we are gradually losing territory,” he said by phone from Chasib Yar district, but added that “we cannot keep what has been destroyed.”
Russian troops outnumber Ukrainian forces ten to one in the region, but despite that ratio, Syrian officials suggested that Russian forces have not made significant progress in the past six months of fighting.
Voloshin said that over the past month, Russian military attacks against Ukrainian defense lines in the Shashiv Yar area have become more intense.
In this photo taken from a video released by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on July 3, 2024, Russian soldiers open fire on Ukrainian troops at an undisclosed location in Ukraine. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Office, via Associated Press)
Voloshin said Russia had carried out nearly 1,300 attacks in the past week alone, firing about 130 glide bombs and conducting 44 ground attacks.
Other attacks by Russian forces in recent weeks have focused on seizing nearby settlements that will enable them to advance on Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, the largest cities in the Ukrainian-controlled part of the Donetsk region.
Ukrainian military commanders in the region say their forces remain under-resourced, mainly because they were put on the defensive after months of no U.S. military aid.
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In this photo taken from a video released by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on July 3, 2024, a glide bomb is seen under the wing of a Russian Air Force Su-34 bomber during a combat mission over Ukraine. Russian forces have increasingly relied on glide bombs, which can be launched at a safe distance from Ukrainian air defense forces, to attack Ukrainian positions. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Office, via Associated Press)
Syriayev, the assault battalion commander, said ammunition from allies was arriving but slower than the troops needed.
“We are determined to hold out to the end,” said the commander, who has been fighting on the front line since the war began.
Meanwhile, Russia launched 22 drones over Ukraine the previous night, the Russian Air Force said this morning, but nearly all of them were shot down. One of them hit a power infrastructure facility in the northern part of Chernihiv Oblast, knocking out power to nearly 6,000 customers, according to Governor Viacheslav Chaus.
Russia has continued to attack Ukraine’s hard-hit energy infrastructure, resulting in hours-long rolling blackouts across the country, and Ukrainian officials have warned the situation could worsen as winter approaches.
