Russia reports gains in eastern Ukraine, putting pressure on Vuhledar stronghold

On September 25, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that its forces had captured the villages of Hostre and Hryhorivka. Denis Pushilin, the Russian-appointed head of the Donetsk region, said fighting was underway in the town of Vuhledar, which had a pre-conflict population of 14,000.

Russian soldiers fire Pion self-propelled guns towards Ukrainian positions. Photo: Russian Defense Ministry

The governor of Ukraine's Donetsk region, Vadym Filashkin, said that Russian troops had not yet reached the outskirts of Vuhledar, but reconnaissance groups were operating there. "Our defenders are trying to push them out. The town has not yet been captured," he stated on television.

When asked about reports that Russian forces had surrounded Vuhledar, a fortified mining town that has served as a Ukrainian defensive stronghold in the Donetsk region since the conflict began in 2022, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "This move is very positive."

Last August, Russian forces in eastern Ukraine advanced at their fastest pace in two years of conflict, despite Ukraine's cross-border offensive into Russia's Kursk region aimed at forcing Moscow to divert its troops.

Analysts at the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War said that Russia appears to be intensifying its offensive on Vuhledar, but capturing the town would not significantly alter Moscow's prospects for further advance.

Ngoc Anh (according to Reuters, RIA)

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/nga-bao-cao-nhieu-thang-loi-o-mien-dong-ukraine-ap-sat-cu-diem-vuhledar-post314025.html