OAN Staff Blake Wolf
2:44 PM – Wednesday, October 2, 2024
After more than two years of fighting in the front-line town of Vuhledar, Ukrainian forces have now withdrawn and Russia is occupying the territory.
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Losing Vuhledar is the latest blow to the Ukrainian military, as the city represents a key tactical advantage, sitting atop a significant hill within eastern Ukraine.
Along with a height advantage, the city offers key railway lines to Moscow, providing greater logistical protection, and making it easier for Russia to advance as the Russian army penetrates Ukrainian defenses marching closer to Pokrovsk, an important Ukrainian logistics hub.
The Russian army announced the capture of Vuhledar, Donetsk, on Wednesday, as the war rages on into its third year, forcing the Ukrainian army to retreat following the threat of being surrounded.
Ukrainian officials confirmed the withdrawal, claiming that it was necessary to “protect military personnel and equipment.”
“In an attempt to take control of the city at any cost, (Russian) reserves were directed to carry out flanking attacks, which exhausted the defense of the units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. As a result of the enemy’s actions, there arose a threat of encircling the city,” the Ukrainian statement read.
The newest update in the war follows after brutal fighting over the summer led to Kyiv losing several thousand square miles of territory to the Russians, as they destroyed towns and villages with missiles, artillery fire, and drone strikes, making significant progress along the way as Volodymyr Zelenskyy requests more military aid from the U.S.
Russian president Vladimir Putin has stated that his primary goal in the war is to conquer the majority of the Donbas region, which Russia currently controls 80% of.
Speaking on the now-failed August Ukrainian counter-offensive in Kursk, Putin stated: “The aim of the enemy [in Kursk] was to force us to worry, hustle, divert troops and to stop our offensive in key areas, especially in the Donbas, the liberation of which is our main primary objective.”
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