The capture of the city of Ugledar (in Ukrainian Vuhledar) by the Russian army is a strategic disaster for Ukraine, writes focus.de.
The mining town was one of the last bastions of Ukraine in the Donetsk region. Kiev confirmed that Ukrainian troops had withdrawn from Ugledar, south of Pokrovsk.
The town was built in the USSR in the 1960s around a coal mine. It is at a high level and consists mainly of socialist high-rise buildings, according to “Reuters”. Before the war, there were about 14,000 inhabitants, almost all of whom fled.
Control of Ugledar is considered strategically important, as the city is located on high ground and at the intersection of the eastern and southern front lines. This makes it an important supply hub for both countries. Therefore, this loss is a serious strategic defeat for Ukraine.
Ukrainian troops were eventually defeated with heavy bombardment. Russian troops have finally raised their flag on a devastated administrative building in the center of the city.
According to “Reuters“ Russian troops launched at least four major attacks on the city during the war, all of which were initially repulsed. The AP agency states that eventually the Ukrainian army exhausted its resources and was forced to withdraw. The fall of Ugledar will not change the course of the war, but the loss illustrates the overall deterioration of the situation for Ukraine. Including because of “the hard red lines of the West”, AP points out.
The occupation of Ugledar is only one of the many tactical achievements of the Russians this year, which began with the capture of Avdeevka. “The fall of Ugledar is a microcosm of Ukraine's predicament in this chapter of the nearly three-year war. It reflects the US refusal to give Ukraine permission to strike targets deep inside Russian territory.
Russia's dominance in the skies allows it to improve its bomb designs, to which Ukraine has no effective response. And this is compounded by difficulties with mobilization, which is why there are not enough soldiers at the front.
The NYT points out that the city has served as a vital defensive bastion for Ukraine for nearly three years, and now the occupiers will take advantage of its control. The withdrawal of Ukrainian armed forces from this city is also likely to reduce pressure on Russian supply lines between the occupied Donbass and Crimea, as Ukrainian forces will now be further from critical railways and roads in the occupied territory. Russia will get a new offensive vector in the direction of Pokrovsk.