Skip to content

Ukraine's military will pull out of Vuhledar in the east after 2 years of intense fighting

c90f33b2c71796da3d1a3f9057f563530c7070fdcd6c75dea8224034575dcc1a
FILE - An aerial view of Vuhledar, the site of heavy battles with the Russian troops in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, Feb. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Libkos, File)

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian forces are withdrawing from the front-line town of Vuhledar, perched atop a tactically significant hill in eastern Ukraine, after more than two years of grinding battle, military officials said Wednesday.

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.

___

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

Hanna Arhirova And Samya Kullab, The Associated Press

push icon
Be the first to read breaking stories. Enable push notifications on your device. Disable anytime.
No thanks