Russia suffers setback in push to capture critical fortress city: UK

Russian troops are stalling in their Donetsk offensive, having “made only slow progress” around the strategic eastern town of Chasiv Yar, according to new analysis. The settlement is key to Kyiv’s defensive line in eastern Ukraine and has become a prime target for Moscow.

Ukraine’s army chief, Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, has previously stated that Russian forces hope to capture the strategically crucial town before May 9.

The town sits west of Bakhmut, which Russian forces captured in May 2023 after months of bitter and bloody fighting. Capturing Chasiv Yar would “enable Russia to attack into Ukraine’s belt of operationally significant fortress cities,” the U.S. think tank, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) assessed earlier this month.

Fortress cities are a collection of settlements west of the front line in Ukrainian-held territory, including Sloviansk, Kramatorsk, Druzhkivka, and Kostyantynivka. The cities sit between approximately seven and 18 miles from the front line.

Seizing Chasiv Yar could also help Russia cut off Kostiantynivka, around 12 kilometers—or just over 7 miles—from the front line, which would compromise the “backbone of Ukraine’s defense” in the Donetsk region, the think tank said. Ukraine’s military has warned that Russia would move from Chasiv Yar onto Kramatorsk and Sloviansk.

Chasiv Yar is “heavily defended” and located on high ground, the U.K. government said on Sunday. “Russian ground forces have made only slow progress in the area.”

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

Russia’s government said on Sunday that its forces had seized the village of Bohdanivka, northeast of the targeted settlement, and “improved the situation along the front line.” Moscow’s troops repelled two Ukrainian attacks around Chasiv Yar in the past day, Russia’s Defense Ministry said in a statement.

Ukraine’s military said on Sunday that Russian troops had launched 28 attacks around Bakhmut in the past 24 hours, including around Ivanivske, to the southeast of Chasiv Yar.

Russia has largely focused its efforts in pushing westwards in Donetsk, making slow but steady gains in the east of the region, while maintaining lower-level fighting at other spots along the front line.

Ukrainian officials have said Russia is planning a summer offensive, which may start as early as the end of next month. Kyiv had also emphasized that its ability to fend off a new offensive would hinge on Western military aid deliveries.

On Saturday, the U.S. House of Representatives approved more than $60 billion in aid to Ukraine, which had been stalled for months by political infighting. The Senate will now vote on the package, before it heads to President Joe Biden for sign-off.

The aid will take likely weeks to arrive on the battlefield and start to make a difference, during which time Ukraine will likely lose more ground to Russia, the ISW assessed on Saturday. Moscow may also “take advantage of the limited window before the arrival of new U.S. aid” to up its attacks, the think tank said.