Ukrainian forces continue to control the city of Chasov Yar in eastern Ukraine despite attempts by Russian troops to break through their defenses, said the head of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Gen. Alexander Sirski, quoted by Reuters, reported BTA.
"Chasov Yar remains in our hands, all attempts of the enemy to penetrate the settlement have failed," the general wrote on the social network "Telegram".
Yesterday, the Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported, citing an official representative, that Russian troops entered the outskirts of the city. Moscow attaches great importance to the capture of this settlement because it believes that it provides a good springboard for Ukrainian forces to conduct operations in this area of the front.
The fall of Chasov Yar, a heavily fortified town with a pre-war population of 12,200, located west of the ruined city of Bakhmut, occupied by Russian forces, would be a serious defeat for Ukraine, Reuters notes.
Moscow's troops are advancing in eastern Ukraine after capturing the Ukrainian bastion of Avdeyevka in February. Kiev's soldiers are scrambling to entrench themselves, facing a long-term shortage of artillery shells because of a congressional block on US military aid.