Russia conquers important city in eastern Ukraine and weakens Kyiv

Russia conquers important city in eastern Ukraine and weakens Kyiv

Russia has taken the strategically important city of Vuhledar in the east of Ukraine and thus broken up for months of resistance. This underlines the challenges that Kyiv faces in the third winter of the war. Videos that were verified by CNN show Russian troops that swing the flag of Russia over the ruins of the town hall of the devastated city. The population of Vuhledar has dropped from around 14,000 to just a little more than a hundred.

withdrawal of the Ukrainian troops

On Wednesday, the Ukrainian military confirmed the withdrawal from Vuhledar and reported that Russia had successfully used reserves on the flanks, which resulted in the “threat to the circuit”. The decision to withdraw "was made" to protect the soldiers and military technology ".

Russian strategy and goals

A central goal of Russian President Vladimir Putin is to take the entire eastern Ukraine, especially the Donbas region. This year Russia has gradually progressed in the east, and the loss of Vuhledar, together with the return of President Selenskyj, falls from a meeting with US President Joe Biden without being met.

meaning of vuhledar

Vuhledar, a city that was built around a carbon mine (the name comes from the Ukrainian word for coal), is about 50 km south of Pokrovsk, which has been seen as the main attack of Russia in recent months. Although Vuhledar was not an important transport and logistics hub like Pokrovsk, the city was strongly fortified and represented a decisive outpost at the interface of the East and South Ukrainian fronts. A prominent Russian war blogger, Boris Rozhin, described the victory as "surgical, if not operational-strategic".

defense and loss of Vuhledar

As the strategically important city of Avdiivka, which fell in February, Vuhledar is not the result of Russian strategic superiority, but brutal wear warfare. For two years, Ukraine had maintained an impressive defense there, while Russia had failed several times to take the city. In February 2023, another Russian attack on Vuhledar led to an outcry among military bloggers close to the wreath, when hundreds of Russian soldiers moved directly into the crosshairs of the Ukrainian artillery.

reactions and follow

Another Russian blogger, Voenkor Kotenok, spoke of this bittersweet victory on Tuesday and expressed: "It hurts, Vuhledar, or rather, those who have settled there have shed a lot of blood." Now it will be Ukraine that has to deal with difficult questions.

fresh challenges for Ukraine

that Russia could mobilize enough reserves to circle the city, illustrates the Manpower advantage, which it still has four months after the Ukraine mobilization law comes into force. Stanislav Buniatov, a Ukrainian soldier and blogger, commented on a telegram post that "you should be a moron to let our people circle, but it happened to someone". He reported that soldiers had returned in small groups from Vuhledar while they were shot by Russian drones.

political effects and future prospects

The time circumstances of this loss will also be very noticeable in Kyiv. This happens less than two months after the Ukraine has expanded the combat area to the Course region of Russia-a strategy to reduce the pressure on other fronts and to improve Ukrainian opportunities after Russia gradually advanced in spring and summer in the east and opened a new front in the northern region of Charkiw. Just a few days earlier, Selenskyj had returned from a politically charged diplomatic journey to the United States, in which he received the commitment of new help, but no NATO security guarantees or permission to use Western rockets in Russia

Winter demands its tribute

Only last week Selenskyj said in an interview with ABC, "we are closer to peace than we think". The loss of Vuhledar now means that Ukraine has to fight against the further western offensive of Russia, which makes the prospect of the reconquest of territories appear even more. In addition, there was no relaxation in the Russian attacks on the Ukrainian energy infrastructure, with the international Energy agency warned that "this winter will be the biggest test for Ukraine so far".