The reason Russia is determined to seize the Chasov Yar stronghold.

Controlling Chasov Yar, with its higher elevation compared to the surrounding area, would give Russia a clear path to advance on a series of neighboring cities currently held by Ukraine.

Experienced Russian airborne troops (VDV) are closing in on the eastern edge of Chasov Yar, a city located about 12 km west of Bakhmut. Ukraine's top commander says Russia wants to control Chasov Yar before May 9th, the day Ukraine celebrates the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany.

Russian forces have been continuously using artillery, glide bombs, and drones to attack enemy defensive positions in Chasov Yar, a city considered strategically important to Ukraine.

If they gain control of Chasov Yar, Russian forces could launch direct attacks on remaining Ukrainian strongholds in the region. Russia appears to be encircling Ukraine from three sides—east, south, and north—of Chasov Yar, forcing them to retreat westward.

Russian T-72 tanks fire on Ukrainian positions on April 1st. Photo: Russian Ministry of Defense

Russian media reported that Russian servicemen began calling on Ukrainian soldiers at Chasov Yar to surrender or be annihilated by glide bombs, a highly destructive weapon that Russia has recently been using extensively.

Chasov Yar, meaning "quiet valley," had a population of over 12,000 before the conflict and now numbers only about 1,000. The city, located in the Donetsk province within the Donbass industrial region, is a center for the production of reinforced concrete products and the extraction and production of refractory clay products.

Due to its higher elevation compared to the surrounding area, Chasov Yar became a staging point and forward artillery base for the Ukrainian army. This led to repeated Russian attacks on Chasov Yar, inflicting heavy damage on the city.

Russian military experts say that if they capture Chasov Yar, their army could gain access to a series of other strongholds such as Kramatorsk, Slavyansk, Druzhkovka, and Konstantinovka. Of these, Kramatorsk is the last major city that Ukraine still controls in the Donetsk province.

The cities of Bakhmut/Artemovsk, Chasov Yar, Kramatorsk, Slavyansk, Druzhkovka, and Konstantinovka. Graphic: RYV

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), based in the United States, believes that the aforementioned cities form the backbone of Ukraine's defense system in the east.

"The offensive effort to seize Chasov Yar offers Russian forces the most promising prospects for significant progress in combat operations," ISW stated, while warning that losing Druzhkovka and Konstantinovka would be "a major and irreversible setback for Ukraine."

Casualties on both sides in the battles of Bakhmut and Avdeevka were estimated to be very high. Sergey Markov, a former Kremlin advisor, said that the Chasov Yar offensive would be just as difficult as the attempts to breach the Bakhmut and Avdeevka strongholds.

According to Alexander Kots, a reporter for the Russian newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda, Russian VDV units are attempting to approach Chasov Yar.

"To advance into Chasov Yar, they needed to flatten both flanks and encircle the city, then simultaneously open entry points from different directions," Kots said. "This would spread the enemy forces in the city thin, forcing them to move in different directions under constant Russian fire."

Russian BM-27 rocket launchers attacked Ukrainian positions on March 8. Photo: Russian Ministry of Defense

Lieutenant Colonel Nazar Voloshyn, spokesman for the Ukrainian army, warned that after capturing Chasov Yar, Russian forces "will have the opportunity to attack Kramatorsk, Slavyansk, Druzhkovka, and Konstantinovka."

"These are Ukraine's last strongholds in the Donetsk province," Voloshyn said, referring to the four cities mentioned above. "Chasov Yar is the highest point in the region. Controlling the city would significantly simplify Russia's advance towards Kramatorsk, Slavyansk, and Konstantinovka."

Nguyen Tien (Based on Reuters, AFP, Politico )

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