Rafael M. Manueco
Correspondent. Moscow
Wednesday, October 2, 2024, 7:36 p.m.
The town of Vugledar, located fifty kilometers southwest of the city of Donetsk, in the Ukrainian region of the same name, has relative strategic importance but its loss for kyiv is a significant psychological blow. It once had almost 15,000 inhabitants and its main wealth is coal mines, as its name indicates. Now, after two and a half years of fighting, since March 2022, and a continued siege, Vugledar, which resisted like a true fortress, is completely destroyed and, as of this Wednesday, under the almost total control of the Russian Army.
This is recognized by the kyiv authorities themselves and the command of the Ukrainian army, which ended up giving permission to the 72nd Mechanized Brigade to withdraw and avoid being surrounded after having been defending Vugledar and suffering significant casualties. “The high command gave its authorization to the withdrawal maneuver to allow men to be saved, military equipment and new positions to be taken,” the Ukrainian ‘Jortitsa’ unit in charge of the defensive operation wrote on its Telegram channel.
Vugledar, considered a bastion because it was located on a hill, was of special importance to the Ukrainians due to its location at the same intersection of the eastern and southern fronts and because from there they fired at the Russian supply lines. The city is located next to the railway line that runs from Crimea to the industrial zones of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions.
Logistics hub
Now, the capture of Vugledar, according to Russian analysts, opens the way to the cities of Dnipro and Zaporizhzhia, will increase pressure on Ukrainian forces in Kurakhovo and will help reduce Ukrainian shelling on Yelenovka. At the same time, it will facilitate the offensive for Moscow’s troops to take over Pokrovsk, further north, of vital importance for the Ukrainian forces as it is the logistical hub that supplies the units deployed along the front line in the region. from Donetsk.
Ukrainian expert Ruslán Bórtnik estimates that, while the Ukrainians held the enclave, “they were able to use their artillery against important transportation routes used by the invading troops, in particular the Volnovakha-Mariupol highway and the Azov railway,” which Russia is under construction and should begin operating this fall. The train will carry cargo to Crimea and will significantly relieve the Kerch bridge, making it a less important target for Ukraine.
However, specialists at the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) believe that the capture of Vugledar is unlikely to “radically modify the course of offensive operations.” Unlike Pokrovsk, the ISW does not consider this city a particularly important logistics center.
#Russia #takes #Vugledar #deals #moral #blow #Ukrainian #army #Basque #Journal