Moscow, Oct 2 (EFE).- Russian troops have reportedly secured a foothold in Vuhledar, a strategic town in eastern Ukraine, following prolonged assaults, though full control remains contested amid ongoing Ukrainian resistance.
“Our soldiers are already in Vuhledar, and the Russian flag has been raised on the local istration building,” Yan Gagin, an advisor to the Donetsk People’s Republic, told RIA Novosti.
However, he cautioned that “it is premature” to talk about the capture of the city after two and a half years of assaults on this strategic Ukrainian stronghold in the eastern Donetsk region.
“There are still scattered units of the Ukrainian army present, and the city is being cleared, which will take some time.”
Another official source confirmed to TASS that the Ukrainian forces have been “virtually” driven out of the town, where Kyiv is reportedly facing “enormous losses” for failing to withdraw its defenses in time.
The DeepState war monitor, d with the Kyiv Ministry of Defense, also considers the city lost.
Nevertheless, some experts noted on television that Ukrainian troops still control the northern part of Vuhledar. The Ukrainian General Staff did not mention the situation in Vuhledar in its daily report.
Capturing Vuhledar would represent the Kremlin’s most significant victory since the fall of Avdivka, a town on the outskirts of Donetsk, earlier this year.
Vuhledar, which had a pre-war population of over 14,000, has been a primary target for Russian forces in Donbas since the onset of the military campaign in Ukraine.
Since March 2022, the Russian army has launched two major offensives against the town, both of which failed and resulted in heavy casualties among attackers.
According to American media reports, Ukraine is likely to lose control of Pokrovsk, another key target of the current Russian offensive, in the coming weeks.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy acknowledged the complicated situation on the Eastern Front upon his return from the US, where he requested authorization for the use of long-range missiles against Russian territory. EFE
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