The Ukrainian army is retreating in several areas of the eastern Ukraine region of Donbas while the Russian offensive on Kharkiv is stalled. Ukrainian troops have already withdrawn from the Kanal district in the Donetsk region's Chasiv Yar, according to Nazar Volochyne, spokesman for the Khortytsia operational group, one of the Ukrainian army's main formations, during a July 4 public TV appearance.

The effective withdrawal had taken place the day before – after all the bridges spanning the canal separating the center of Chasiv Yar from the besieged district had been destroyed, making it too dangerous for the city's defenders to even obtain supplies. The Ukrainian defense line is now on the west bank of the canal. This 10-meter-wide wet cut represents a significant obstacle for a Russian army that has so far shown limited ability to resolve this type of tactical challenge.

"I think we can hold this line for a long time because I don't see how they could cross the channel, other than by plugging it with their bodies," said Oleksandr, a commander of a combat drone unit, by telephone from Chasiv Yar. As he is not authorized to speak to the media – and neither are the other soldiers quoted in the article – the officer asked to not reveal his full identity.

The main task is to use suicide drones and bomber drones to destroy any enemy vehicle within a 12-kilometer radius. "We force the Russians to approach the front line on foot for 12 kilometers, which makes them very tired and reduces the weaponry they can carry." This did not prevent the enemy from attacking "without respite" and at the cost of "losses far in excess of our own," said the commander.

Thanks to its elevated position, Chasiv Yar, which had a population of 12,000 before the large-scale invasion, forms a lock blocking the Russian offensive towards the towns of Kramatorsk and Slovyansk, which the Kremlin has been trying in vain to seize since 2022. "The enemy is achieving its goal of stabilizing the front line along the Siverskyi Donets-Donbas canal," said Vyacheslav, commander of a reconnaissance company, contacted by telephone. "I don't think they'll be able to cross the canal, on the other hand, they'll strive to control the entire eastern bank," said the officer, who has been fighting since 2014.

In recent weeks, the intensity and scale of the Russian army's attacks in the Donbas have increased. So far, the push has taken the form of a slow seizure of Ukrainian territory, at a daily rate of around 10 square kilometers on a 700-kilometer-long front. In recent days, however, the Russian army has managed to push back the Ukrainian defenses, not only at Chasiv Yar, but also 25 kilometers to the south, on the outskirts of the town of Toretsk, in the last section of the front that had not moved since February 2022.

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