Ukrainian "fortress" about to fall: Evacuate

 

Russia's invasion of Ukraine
Ukrainian 'fortress' about to fall: 'Evacuate now'

Joachim Kerpner

Published 10.15

Ukrainian soldiers in front of residential buildings in Vuhledar, bombed by the Russian army. The photo was taken in February 2023. Photo: Evgeniy Maloletka / AP

Ukraine's "fortress" Vuhledar in the Donetsk region is about to fall, according to the BBC Russian Service and the exiled Russian newspaper Meduza.

- The situation for the Ukrainian units defending Vuhledar is becoming increasingly difficult, writes BBC war commentator Ilya Abishev.

Quick version

• Vuhledar, a strategically important city in southeastern Ukraine, is close to falling to Russian forces who have surrounded the city and besieged the only remaining access road.
• The town of Vuhledar had a population of 14,000, but is now a bombed-out wasteland where Ukrainian forces struggle to hold the lines.
• The situation is also critical in other parts of the Donetsk region, such as around the cities of Selydove and Toretsk. The Russian army's changed tactics of encircling rather than storming have proven effective and caused problems for the Ukrainian defense, which is also struggling with equipment and personnel shortages. 
  

Vuhledar in southeastern Ukraine had 14,000 residents before Russia's invasion in 2022. Now it is a deserted, bombed-out town where Ukrainian forces are finding it increasingly difficult to hide in the ruins, while Russian forces are encircling the city.

There is only one way out for the soldiers of the Ukrainian army's 72nd brigade, the other exits are occupied by the Russians who have surrounded the city in a semicircle. The only road north towards Bohoyavlenka is constantly shelled by the Russians, which has also made impossible the Ukrainian supply of military maintenance to the city.

If the Ukrainian force retreats to the northwest, it will likely have to advance. Ukrainian military experts are now urging the country's military leadership not to delay the withdrawal too long, according to Meduza.

If Russian forces take Vuhledar, it is a tangible success, as the city is of great strategic importance and is described as an "important fortress". It is situated high, and lies at the intersection of Ukraine's eastern and southern fronts. The Russian army has tried in vain to capture the city since the beginning of the war.

 

          

        

PUkrainian soldiers on their way to the front in Vuhledar in February 2023.

1 / 2Photo: Evgeniy Maloletka / AP

Surrounding the city

Just 18 kilometers east of Vuhledar is an important railway on which the Russian forces transport material and soldiers. For now, the Ukrainians can artillery bombard the railway from Vuhledar. If the city falls, it won't go any further, notes the BBC Russian Servcice.

The 72nd Ukrainian Brigade is exhausted after defending Vuhledar for two years, and no replacement is in sight.

But it is not only Vuhledar who is in a bad place. The situation around Selydove a few miles to the north is also critical. Just like in Vuhledar, Russian forces are encircling the town.

The new encirclement tactic has been successful for the Russians, compared to at the beginning of the war when they often stormed cities with heavy losses as a result.

Another few miles to the north is Pokrovsk, where the situation has been calm for a few weeks. But now Russian forces have once again begun to advance towards the city.

In Toretsk, three miles north of Pokrovsk, a slow Russian advance is also underway. The two armies fight each other block by block among the high-rise buildings. In addition, Russian troops have begun an encirclement from the southwest.

- Not everything is due to the enemy having superior forces and military equipment. It is also due to miscalculations in the organization of the defense, says military expert Vladislav Seleznev on Ukrainian television according to the BBC.

One such miscalculation could be the decision to send thousands of soldiers into the Russian Kursk area, who are now tied up there and cannot be sent south. The lack of newly trained Ukrainian soldiers and inadequate supply of weapons also hampers the defense around Vuhledar and on other fronts:

- The 14 new brigades that the Ukrainian army is forming have a clear lack of modern technology, writes Forbes military expert David Axe.

 

 

A Ukrainian soldier about to take up a position among the bombed-out houses in Vuhledar in February 2023. 

1 / 2Photo: Evgeniy Maloletka / AP