Russia announced Thursday that its troops have taken the city of Chásiv Yar, in the Donetsk region, after more than a year of fighting to control it in that disputed area of eastern Ukraine.
“As a result of the offensive actions of the South Troops group (…) the city of Chasov Yar (Chásiv Yar, in Ukrainian) of the Popular Republic of Donetsk (RPD) was released,” said Russia’s Ministry of Defense in its Telegram channel.
The fighting by Chásiv Yar, with a population of about 12,000 inhabitants before the war, began in April 2024 and for February of this year the Russian troops controlled 90% of the city.
“In the battle of Chasov Yar, perhaps perhaps the most large group group in the history of the special operation was annihilated. It is literally thousands of enemy troops,” said a military source cited by the Russian official agency Tass.
According to the Russian military command, the city and its surroundings had been converted into a highly fortified area. “
“The liberation of Chasov Yar in fact supposes the collapse of the defensive line of the Ukraine Armed Forces in the direction of Konstantínovka,” he said in statements to Tass ígor Kimanovski, advisor to the RPD Headquarters, annexed by Russia in September 2022.
Chásiv Yar is located about 5 kilometers northeast of Kostiantinivka (Konstantínovka, in Russian), a key city for defense since southern Kramorsk and Sloviansk, the main Ukrainian bastions in the Donetsk region.
