Russia is gathering around 25,000 troops around the strategically important city of Chasiv Yar in Ukraine. Russia is walking this path amid claims of occupying another village in the Donetsk region. A spokesman for a Ukrainian military unit spoke of the Russian military buildup. On Monday (May 6), the American magazine Newsweek reported the news.
Nazar Voloshin, a spokesman for the Khortytsia group of the country’s army, said on Ukrainian television that the enemy had gathered 20,000-25,000 troops around Chasiv Yar.
Chasiv Yar is an important city west of Bakhmut in the Russian-controlled Donetsk region. Washington-based think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW) has described it as a fortress city. If Russia could capture the city, it would be easier for them to attack Ukrainian defenses in the region.
ISW said the seizure of Chasiv Yar could lead to Russia’s secession of the Kostiantynivka area. This area is the backbone of the Ukrainian defense in the Donetsk region.
Last month, Ukraine’s army chief, Col. Gen. Oleksandr Sirsky, said Russian troops were seeking to capture the town of Chasiv Yar, west of Bakhmut, and advance toward the city of Kramatorsk in the Donetsk region, northwest of the city.
Fighting continued between Russian and Ukrainian forces near Chasiv Yar on Friday, ISW said in a review of its own on Saturday. But there was no decisive change on the battlefield.
After the capture of Bakhmut and Avdivka, Russia has been increasing its forces in the eastern battlefields of Ukraine. On Sunday, the Ukrainian army claimed it had repelled several Russian attacks in the past 24 hours near Bakhmut.
On the same day, the Russian Defense Ministry said that Russian troops attacked Ukrainian positions near Bakhmut, including Klishivka. A village called Ocheretine was captured there.
In late April, Ukraine’s armed forces said Russia had strengthened its position in the village of Ocheratyn. But fierce fighting is going on.
Between Friday and Saturday, Russian troops made a significant strategic breakthrough in Arkhanhelsk, northwest of Avdivka, ISW said.
