Ukrainian army claims Russian troops pushed back from key eastern city

(Patria) - The Ukrainian army said on Thursday that its forces had driven Russian troops out of a district in the city of Chasiv Yar on the eastern front of the war, which is considered Moscow's next target, Reuters reported.

A Russian report says Russian forces destroyed a communication tower near the city and advanced further.

Chasiv Yar stands on a hill 20 km west of Bakhmut, a city captured by Russian forces a year ago after months of fighting. Both sides see Chasiv Yar as a potential starting point for Russia to advance towards key cities in the eastern Donetsk region, including Kramatorsk and Sloviansk.

Nazar Voloshyn, a spokesman for the Ukrainian group of forces in the south, told the Ukrinform agency that Russian forces had been driven out of the "Kanal" neighborhood in Chasiv Yar along the Siverskyi Donets-Donbas canal that runs along the eastern edge of the city. "Ukrainian defenders have indeed pushed Russian forces out of the Kanal district in Chasiv Yar in the Donetsk region," Voloshyn said.

"There is no enemy army anymore."

The General Staff of the Ukrainian army, in a late evening report on Thursday, said Russian troops had tried six times to push back Ukrainian forces near Chasiv Yar. Three attacks were repelled, and fighting continued.

The Ukrainian embassy in Washington issued an appeal on X to stop the Russian advance on Chasiv Yar, saying Russia is "desperately trying to wipe out the city by targeting even damaged churches and civilian residential blocks."

"We must prevent Russia from turning it into a ghost town before it is too late," they added.

A dispatch from the Russian news agency Tass said that the commander of a Russian brigade, Stanislav Orlov, said his forces had destroyed a communication tower at the highest point of the city.

"This made it possible to make a breakthrough without losses," the dispatch said.

Ukraine had expected a Russian attack on the city. Its supreme commander, Oleksandr Syrskyi, said last month that Russian forces had hoped to capture Chasiv Yar before the May 9 ceremony marking the anniversary of the Soviet victory in World War II.