Russia amassing tens of thousands of troops around key Ukrainian town

Russia has amassed up to 25,000 soldiers around the strategic settlement of Chasiv Yar, the Ukrainian military said on Sunday, as the Kremlin claims to have seized another village in the Donetsk region.

“The enemy has amassed a grouping of 20,000-25,000 servicemen” around Chasiv Yar, Nazar Voloshyn, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s Khortytsia grouping of forces, told Ukrainian television in remarks reported by domestic media.

Newsweek has reached out to the Russian Defense Ministry for comment via email.

Chasiv Yar, a key town that sits west of the Russian-controlled Donetsk city of Bakhmut, was described by the U.S. think tank, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), as a “fortress city.” Capturing Chasiv Yar would help Russia attack the rest of Ukraine’s significant defensive settlements, the ISW has evaluated.

Seizing Chasiv Yar could also allow Russia to cut off the settlement of Kostiantynivka, which would compromise the “backbone of Ukraine’s defense” in the Donetsk region, the ISW said.

Ukraine’s army chief, Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, said last month that Moscow is attempting to “break through our defenses west of Bakhmut,” take control of Chasiv Yar, and “create conditions for further advance” toward the Donetsk city of Kramatorsk that lies northwest of Chasiv Yar.

The Kremlin wants to capture Chasiv Yar by May 9, Syrskyi said.

“Ukrainian and Russian forces continued to fight near Chasiv Yar on May 4, but there were no confirmed changes to this front line,” the ISW assessed on Saturday.

Russia has focused its main efforts on the eastern front lines, west of Bakhmut and west of Avdiivka, the former Ukrainian stronghold Russia captured in February 2024.

Ukraine’s military said on Sunday that it had repelled a dozen attacks close to Bakhmut in the previous 24 hours, including around the village of Klishchiivka, southwest of Bakhmut, and Ivanivske, west of Bakhmut and east of Chasiv Yar.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Sunday that its troops had attacked Ukrainian positions near Bakhmut, including around Klishchiivka.

Russian forces “completely liberated” the village of Ocheretyne, northwest of Russian-held Avdiivka, Moscow added in a statement.

Ukraine’s armed forces had said in late April that Russia had gained a foothold in Ocheretyne, and that heavy fighting was continuing.

Russian forces made a “notable tactical advance” near Arkhanhelske, northwest of Avdiivka, between Friday and Saturday, the ISW said in its latest assessment. Russian media had reported earlier this month that Ukraine had withdrawn from the village, and geolocated footage from Friday showed Kyiv’s troops pulling back from the north of the village, the ISW said.