"At night we can more easily collect the wounded, including by car – then fewer Russian drones fly," a 24-year-old military doctor nicknamed "Tora" who works at a medical post near Chasov Yar in the Donetsk region told ARD. "It happens that wounded soldiers walk for hours here in the middle of the night because there is no other way to get first aid,", she says.
According to the Ukrainian army leadership, Russia is attacking on several different lines in the Donetsk region. Moscow is seeking to break through Ukrainian defenses west of Bakhmut and capture Chasov Yar, Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Sirsky wrote on Facebook. For this purpose, continuous artillery fire and bombs weighing several tons are resorted to. "The situation on the eastern front has worsened a lot," Sirski said on Saturday. According to him, the brigades need additional ammunition, drones and electronic equipment.
"The Russians attack around the clock"
„They are attacking us around the clock and shelling us with everything they have,' Oles Malyarevich, deputy commander of the 92nd assault brigade stationed in Chasov Yar, told Ukrainian television. Every effort is being made to secure additional munitions and drones within three to four days. But the Russian side uses all its potential and attacks simultaneously from several places, Malyarevich also told ARD. “We know that the Russians definitely want to conquer Chasov Yar. We are doing everything to prevent it, as we all know how important it is.“
Fiercer battles than in Bakhmut
Chasov Yar is 20 kilometers west of Bakhmut - a city that, after prolonged and bloody battles, was occupied by the Russians a year ago. Gunner Igor fought there first, now he is in Chasov Yar. The 27-year-old fighter described the battles to Agence France-Presse in the following way: “I was safer in Bakhmut because there were buildings and a place to hide. We did our tasks, then we could go into some safe place. And here Russian drones are constantly flying over us”. Igor is adamant that the battles in Chasov Yar are fiercer than in Bakhmut, writes ARD.
"In Avdeyevka, Putin wanted to show that he was making progress"
Bakhmut, Soledar, Severodonetsk, Lisychansk, Mariupol and Avdeevka - all these cities in the eastern part of Ukraine saw heavy fighting after the Russian invasion, in which Ukraine eventually retreated. On the Ukrainian side, they say that the shortage of weapons, missing or insufficiently modern air defenses and limited amounts of ammunition led to these extremely painful defeats. “The Russian aggressors did everything possible to bring Chasov Yar under their control,” says Ukrainian security expert Oleksandr Kovalenko. “The occupation of the destroyed city of Avdeevka two months ago was more of a propaganda pre-election campaign by Putin. Thus, the Russian ruler wanted to show that he was making progress in Ukraine,”, Kovalenko told ARD.
Fatal lack of resources
It is different in Chasov Yar, the expert claims. The city is located on a strategically important hill, control of which would allow Russia to advance further into the Donbass. From there it is only ten kilometers to Konstantinovka, from where it is possible to continue to the Ukrainian-controlled cities of Kramatorsk and Slavyansk. The Russians are making maximum efforts to capture Chasov Yar and have massed many troops. On the other hand, the Ukrainian defense forces have fortified a rather large area, informs ARD. The question is whether there will be sufficient supplies of resources from international partners, Kovalenko points out. “We are still dependent on the provision of artillery and ammunition to be able to stop the constant Russian attacks.“
Zelensky: "We cannot protect the sky with fairy tales"
Before the Russian invasion, Chasov Yar had a population of 13,000 people, while now there are only about 700 left, who did not heed evacuation calls, Serhiy Chaus of the local military administration told ARD. There was not a single building in the city that was not damaged.
The Russian army wants to capture Chasov Yar by the ninth of May, says Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Sirsky. On this day, Russia celebrates the victory over Germany in World War II. Meanwhile, Ukraine's military and political leadership are making daily appeals to the world community for more military and financial support – whether with advanced air defenses or munitions. “We cannot protect the sky with just talk”, said President Volodymyr Zelensky and repeated that no more time should be wasted.
Andrea Beer ARD | Bilyana Mihailova editor