Russian flag raised over Vuhledar after 31 months of hostilities

The Russian Armed Forces have reached the center of the city of Vuhledar (spelled the Russian way as Ugledar) in the Donetsk People's Republic. Active military operations are underway, Vadim Filashkin, the head of the Donetsk Regional Military Administration (was appointed by Kyiv) said, RBC-Ukraine reports.

According to him, 107 people remain in the city, the children were evacuated. It is extremely difficult to deliver humanitarian aid, medicines and water to those still staying in the city. The humanitarian situation in Vuhledar remains extremely difficult, the official said. Hostilities make it very difficult to deliver humanitarian supplies to Toretsk, where about 1,5000 people remain. Most of them do not want to leave their homes.

It was earlier reported that the military of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were trying to leave the city of Vuhledar while suffering great losses. Escape routes for the Ukrainian army are under the fire control of the Russian Armed Forces.

Russian soldiers raise national flag over Vuhledar

Soldiers of the Russian Armed Forces raised the national flag and the Victory Banner over a hospital of Vuhledar in the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), Governor of the Zabaikalsky Krai Alexander Osipov said on his Telegram channel.

According to the official, the Russian flag was raised by soldiers of the 29th Guards Combined Arms Army stationed in the Zabaikalsky Krai.

According to Mash Telegram channel, battles for Vuhledar lasted for 31 months. Military expert Boris Rozhin said that the group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine left the city and retreated to the north.

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Vuhledar is a town in Volnovakha Raion, Donetsk Oblast, eastern Ukraine. It is the administrative center of Vuhledar urban hromada. At the beginning of 2022, its population was 14,144. Vuhledar is a coal mining city in the cultural and economic Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, with its origins in the 1960s development of the coal industry in the region. It was planned to be a major economic center, but failed to meet expectations, and has remained a minor economic node in the 21st century. Since March 2022, Vuhledar has been a site of fighting. The fighting has almost completely destroyed and depopulated Vuhledar, with reportedly less than 500 civilians remaining in the city.