Sylvie Claire / January 29, 2023
Ukrainian troops are engaged in a "fierce" confrontation with Russian forces trying to seize Vugledar, southwest of Donetsk, in eastern Ukraine where fighting has intensified in recent days.
Soon, Vugledar could become another very important success for us," Denis Pushilin, the Moscow-appointed head of the Donetsk region, said Friday.
Both sides have claimed victory, but the city remains disputed according to Kiev.
The spokesman of the Ukrainian army for the eastern zone, Sergei Cherevaty, confirmed "fierce fighting", while ensuring that the Russians had been pushed back.
150 km from Bakhmut, a mining city with a population of 15,000 before the Russian invasion, "serious, brutal" clashes are taking place and Russian troops have "established themselves in the southeast and east of the city," said an official of the pro-Russian authorities in the eastern Donetsk region, Ian Gagine.
Ukraine reported this week that Russian soldiers, outnumbered, had intensified their attacks in the east, especially on Vugledar and Bakhmut, the latter being their target for months.
And a new Russian offensive is being prepared for February 24, one year to the day after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, assured Oleksii Danilov, secretary of the National Defense and Security Council of Ukraine.
According to the Institute for the Study of War, Russia is seeking to "disperse" Ukrainian forces in order to "create the conditions for a decisive offensive operation.
The Russian military and men from the paramilitary group Wagner recently captured Soledar, north of Bakhmut, the first success in many months and a series of setbacks for the Kremlin.