“Between 20,000 and 25,000 Russian soldiers are trying to assault Chasiv Yar and the towns around it in eastern Donetsk,” the spokesman for the Khortytsia Strategic Operational Group of the Ukrainian Army, Nazar Voloshín, said in an interview on public television, who denied that Russian troops have managed to enter Chasiv Yar and said that the situation there is “difficult” but is “controlled.”
According to Voloshín, Russian forces constantly attack Ukrainian positions defending that town located more than a dozen kilometers west of occupied Bakhmut. However, the Ukrainian military spokesman added, Russian troops are unable to gain control of enemy positions and are forced to retreat.
On April 14, the head of the Ukrainian Army, Oleksandr Sirski, said he was aware that the Russian Army has set itself the goal of conquering Chasiv Yar before May 9, when Russia celebrates Victory Day to commemorate the defeat of Nazi Germany at the hands of the Soviet Union.
The Ukrainian Army has since reported the deployment of additional Russian troops to that part of the front to advance toward that objective.
Ukrainian and Russian military bloggers have reported Russian advances toward Chasiv Yar in recent days. Some of these bloggers claimed that there was fighting within the town itself, something that has been repeatedly denied by the Ukrainian Army.
Chasiv Yar is in the highest area of that part of the front, which gives an advantage to whoever controls the town to attack the enemy. Ukrainian military commanders have recognized that an eventual Russian takeover of Chasiv Yar would facilitate Kremlin forces in their objective of taking the main Ukrainian fiefdoms in Donetsk.
Also this Monday, the Ukrainian military Telegram channel DeepState reported the seizure by Russia of the southern part of Ocheretine, about twenty kilometers northwest of occupied Avdivka.
Both towns are also located in the Donetsk region, where Russia focuses its offensive actions and is managing to gain ground thanks to its superiority in artillery and ammunition systems.
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