Ukraine’s Army retreats from positions as Russia gets closer to seizing strategically important town

Kyiv: A spokesperson for Ukraine’s military said its army has retreated from a neighbourhood in the outskirts of Chasiv Yar, a strategically important town in the eastern Donetsk region which has been reduced to rubble under a months-long Russian assault.

Chasiv Yar lies a short distance west Bakhmut, which was captured by Russia last year after a bitter 10-month battle.

For months, Russian forces have focused on capturing Chasiv Yar, a town which occupies a strategic, elevated location. Its fall would put nearby cities in jeopardy, compromise critical Ukrainian supply routes and bring Russia closer to its stated aim of seizing the entire Donetsk region. The Ukrainian army retreated from a northeastern neighbourhood in the town of Nazar Voloshyn, the spokesman for the Khortytsia ground forces formation, told The Associated Press in a written message Thursday.

Ukraine’s defensive positions in the town were “destroyed,” he said, adding that there was a threat of serious casualties if troops remained in the area and that Russia did not leave “a single intact building.”

Months of relentless Russian artillery strikes have devastated Chasiv Yar, with homes and municipal offices

charred, and a town that once had a population of 12,000

has been left deserted. The intensity of Russian strikes on Ukraine’s defensive line in the area of Chasiv Yar has increased over the last month, Voloshyn

said.