Ukraine confirms it’s abandoning key stronghold

A Ukrainian army grouping defending the town of Ugledar in Russia’s Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) has said that high command has allowed its troops to abandon the stronghold amid increasing Russian pressure.

Russia’s Defense Ministry has not officially confirmed the capture of the important settlement, located in southwestern DPR.

Set on a hill in an open area and consisting almost exclusively of high-rise concrete buildings, Ugledar had been turned into a major fortress by the Ukrainian military. Fighting for the stronghold had been ongoing for months but in recent weeks Russian forces intensified their attacks, with reports emerging of them taking control of parts of the town.

On Wednesday, the Ukrainian military’s Khortitsa task force issued a statement on its Telegram channel revealing that “the higher command has given permission to carry out a maneuver of withdrawal of units from Ugledar.”

The move is intended “to preserve personnel and combat equipment” for further combat actions, Khortitsa explained.

According to the group, the Ukrainian units in Ugledar became “exhausted” by Russian attacks on their flanks. “There was a threat of the encirclement of the town,” it said.

Earlier in the day, a security source told TASS news agency that Russian forces have almost completed their “mopping up” operation in the town. Some of Kiev’s units there suffered “huge losses” after not getting out of Ugledar in time, the source added.

Also on Wednesday, an aide to the head of the DPR told RIA Novosti that a Russian flag had been raised above Ugledar’s administrative building. Yan Gagin also stressed, however, that it was too early to talk about Moscow’s forces being in full control of the town.

The Russian Defense Ministry did not mention Ugledar in its daily bulletin. It did report the capture of Verkhnekamenskoye village in the northeast of Donetsk People’s Republic. The settlement sits five kilometers (around 2.5 miles) east of the town of Seversk, an important Ukrainian stronghold and logistics hub in the area. Kiev’s forces have lost up to 2,120 service personnel across the front line over the past 24 hours, the ministry has estimated.