Russian troops arrive at the Vugledar bastion. And why is this important? (951st day of war)
Russian troops arrived in the center of Vugledar, a strategic bastion, which is located on high ground in eastern Ukraine, and which has resisted attacks since the large-scale invasion in 2022. The information was provided by the leader of the Donetsk regional executive this Tuesday.
Images published on social media also show Russian soldiers waving a flag on top of a multi-story building, which had been bombed. They also appear to unfurl another flag on a roof. According to the Reutersthe images correspond to the streets of Vugledar. Images were also captured of smoke rising over the ruins of the small mining town, which has been an important battlefield. There, Ukrainian units resisted many Russian armored attacks throughout the two and a half years of war.
“The enemy is almost in the center of the city”, admitted the leader of the regional executive, Vadym Filashkin, in statements to a Ukrainian television channel. The situation, he says, is very difficult.
O Institute for the Study of War analyzed, about a week ago, that the offensive efforts of the Russian occupation army near Vugledar and Pokrovsk, in the Donetsk region, reinforced each other and “are probably aimed at expanding Ukrainian defenses on the wider front in the region”. The observatory’s experts analyzed the consequences of the hypothetical possibility of capturing Vugledar, indicating that this is unlikely to give Russian troops any special operational advantage. However, a Ukrainian military analyst, interviewed by the newspaper “The Moscow Times”considered that Vugledar could fall in a “matter of days”, given “the pace of the advance”.
“It is a fortress city, a fortified area on a hill that was built over many years; unfortunately, we are reaching the point where the city is practically surrounded,” Ivan Stupak told the newspaper. (Pokrovsk is located about 50 kilometers north of Vugledar.)
Vugledar is of strategic importance due to its high terrain and its location near the junction of the two main fronts in eastern and southern Ukraine. Russian forces reached the outskirts last week and have intensified their offensive attack in recent days.
Andriy Nazarenko, commander of a 72nd drone battalion. Mechanized Brigade defending the city, said the units were unarmed and outnumbered. “The situation in Vugledar is very difficult; It is the most difficult because the attacks have been going on for more than six months and the enemy is constantly rotating its ranks with new, trained forces.”
Since August, Moscow’s troops in eastern Ukraine have advanced at their fastest pace in more than two years. There has been no respite, despite Ukrainian forces having organized a surprise incursion into the Russian region of Kursk. Previously, Russian attacks on Vugledar had been particularly bloody, with tanks and armored vehicles attacking in open terrain.
Full control over Vugledar would help Moscow’s troops improve their logistics, using the railways more actively, which would also facilitate their advance in the region, by providing high positions to fire artillery.
Only 107 civilians remained in Vugledar, which had a pre-war population of around 14,000.
Sergei Ryabkov, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, said this Tuesday that Russia must prepare for a long confrontation with the United States, and that Moscow has sent repeated warnings to Washington about the crisis in relations between the two powers. . Ryabkov, who oversees arms control and relations with Washington, believes that Moscow has no illusions about relations, given the “bipartisan anti-Russia consensus” in the United States.
“We must prepare for a long-term confrontation with this country. We are ready for it in every way. We are sending all warning signals to our adversary so that he does not underestimate our determination.” Ryabkov’s warning comes after Vladimir Putin warned the West last week that Russia could use nuclear weapons if hit by conventional missiles, and that Moscow would consider any attack backed by a nuclear power to be a joint attack.
The front line in Pokrosvk
Anadolu
Other highlighted news:
⇒ At least six people died and three were injured in a Russian artillery attack on a market in the city of Kherson, in southern Ukraine, authorities said. The attack occurred during the morning of Defenders’ Day, a national holiday honoring the Armed Forces of Ukraine, veterans and victims of war, in which citizens across the country observed a minute of silence for their soldiers and civilians killed in the ongoing conflict since the invasion of Russia in February 2022.
⇒ The new secretary general of the Atlantic Alliance, Mark Rutte, argued that there must be consequences for China’s reputation for “fueling the biggest conflict in Europe since World War II”, referring to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. “China cannot continue to fuel the biggest conflict in Europe since the Second World War without this having consequences for its reputation,” said Mark Rutte, at a press conference at the headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, in Brussels.
⇒ Volodymyr Zelensky declared that the situation was “very, very difficult” on the front line of the war against Russia. For this reason, the Ukrainian President maintained, Ukrainian forces must do everything they can during the autumn period.
