Ukraine confirms loss of Vuhledar

The Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine authorized the withdrawal of Ukrainian units from the сity of Vuhledar in the Donetsk region, the Khortytsia group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said.

Photo: mil.ru by Министерство обороны Российской Федерации, CC BY 4.0

"In an attempt to take control of the city at any cost, [the Russian military] managed to send reserves to carry out flank attacks, which exhausted the defense of the units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. There was a threat of the city to be encircled as a result of the actions of the enemy," representatives of the Khortytsia group said.

The day before, Russian war correspondents and Telegram channels published a video of Russian fighters putting up Russian flags in the center of Vuhledar.

Vuhledar is located in the Volnovakha district of the Donetsk region. Control over the city is considered strategically important in terms of supply logistics. The city sits on a hill and at the intersection of eastern and southern fronts.

Zelensky to face greater pressure after losing Vuhledar

The capture of Vuhledar by the Russian Army may increase pressure on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Bloomberg agency said.

Kyiv is struggling to contain the Russian offensive, the agency noted. The article also said that the capture of Vuhledar would provide the Russian forces with a more advantageous position in terms of logistics.

Speaking about Ukraine's loss of Vuhledar, the agency noted that last week Zelensky, when in the US, tried to promote his "victory plan," but the politician's proposals did not receive much enthusiasm.

Details

Vuhledar (Russian: Ugledar), is a city 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 former 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. For more than two years beginning in March 2022, Vuhledar was the site of fighting in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The battle for the city almost completely destroyed and depopulated it, with reportedly less than 500 civilians remaining in the city in early 2023. Vuhledar was captured by Russian forces in October 2024.