Controlling Chasov Yar at a higher position than the surrounding area will help Russia widen the way to attack a series of neighboring cities that Ukraine is holding.
Russia's battle-hardened airborne units (VDV) are approaching the eastern edge of Chasov Yar, a city located about 12 km west of Bakhmut. Ukraine's top commander said Russia wants to control Chasov Yar by May 9, the day the country celebrates the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany.
Russian forces continuously used artillery, glide bombs and drones to attack enemy defensive positions in Chasov Yar, a city considered to be of strategic importance to Ukraine.
If they control Chasov Yar, Russian forces can launch direct attacks against Ukraine's remaining strongholds in the region. Russia seems to be encircling Ukraine from three sides, east, south and north of Chasov Yar to force them to retreat west.
Russian T-72 tanks opened fire on Ukrainian positions on April 1. Image: Russian Defense Forces
Russian media reported that the country's soldiers began calling on Ukrainian soldiers at Chasov Yar to surrender or be destroyed by glide bombs, a weapon with very powerful destructive power that Russia has recently widely used.
Chasov Yar, which means quiet ravine, had a population of more than 12.000 people before the war and now only about 1.000 people. The city is in Donetsk province, located in the Donbass industrial region, where reinforced concrete products are produced, and the exploitation and production of refractory clay products is produced.
With terrain higher than the surrounding area, Chasov Yar became a staging point and forward artillery base for the Ukrainian army. This caused Russia to continuously raid Chasov Yar and cause heavy damage to the city.
Russian military experts say that if they win Chasov Yar, the country's army can approach a series of other strongholds such as Kramatorsk, Slavyansk, Druzhkovka and Konstantinovka. In particular, Kramatorsk is the last large city that Ukraine still controls in Donetsk province.
Cities Bakhmut/Artemovsk, Chasov Yar, Kramatorsk, Slavyansk, Druzhkovka and Konstantinovka. Graphics: RYV
The US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) identified the series of cities mentioned above as the backbone of Ukraine's defense system in the east.
“The offensive effort to capture Chasov Yar offers Russian forces the most feasible immediate prospects for achieving significant progress in combat operations,” ISW said, warning that losing Druzhkovka and Konstantinovka would is "a major and difficult to reverse step backward for Ukraine".
Casualties on both sides in the battles of Bakhmut and Avdeevka are considered very high. Sergey Markov, a former Kremlin adviser, said the operation to attack Chasov Yar would be as difficult as the attempt to destroy the strongholds of Bakhmut and Avdeevka.
Reporter Alexander Kots of Russia's Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper said that the country's VDV units are trying to close in on Chasov Yar.
“To enter Chasov Yar, they need to flatten the flanks and surround the city, then simultaneously open the entrance from different directions,” Kots said. “This caused enemy forces in the city to be spread thin, forced to move in different directions under constant fire from Russian forces.”
Russian BM-27 rocket artillery attacked Ukrainian positions on March 8. Image: Russian Defense Forces
Lieutenant Colonel Nazar Voloshyn, Ukrainian military spokesman, warned that Russian forces after capturing Chasov Yar "will have the opportunity to attack Kramatorsk, Slavyansk, Druzhkovka and Konstantinovka".
"These are the last strongholds of Ukraine in Donetsk province," Voloshyn said, referring to the four cities mentioned above. “Chasov Yar is the highest place in the region. Control of the city will significantly simplify the Russian advance in the direction of Kramatorsk, Slavyansk and Konstantinovka.”
Nguyễn Tiến (Follow Reuters, AFP, Politico)
