Hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers could be trapped in a besieged town as Russian forces complete their encirclement and close in.
In a desperate plea, one Ukrainian soldier described how evacuation routes out of Vuhledar had been cut and food, ammunition and fuel were running low.
“The situation in Vuhledar is, to put it mildly, difficult,” the unnamed Ukrainian soldier told Stanislav Bunyatov, a Ukrainian soldier and blogger. “The attack is now coming from three sides.”
The soldier said that it was too dangerous for Ukrainian armoured personnel carriers to drive towards friendly lines because of Russian artillery and drone attacks.
Instead, he described how individual units were trying to quietly slip out of the Russian encirclement at night in fighting retreat formations.
“On average, if 10 people leave the city in groups, four to six make it out,” he said.
The soldiers’ complaints were published the day after senior Ukrainian commanders withdrew the commander of Ukraine’s 72nd Brigade that has been defending Vuhledar.
Colonel Ivan Vinnik is reportedly highly regarded and has been tipped for a promotion but some commentators said that he had been withdrawn because he needed to be “saved” before the town was lost.
Vuhledar, towards the southern edge of the frontline that runs through Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, has been described as a Ukrainian “fortress” because it has never been captured.
Now, though, Russian military bloggers confirmed that the Kremlin’s forces have nearly surrounded it and have started to predict that Vuhledar will fall.
“The commander of the 72nd Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, responsible for the defence of the city, has been removed from office. Our troops are methodically destroying enemy firing points in the city,” said the Two Majors Telegram channel, which has nearly 1.2 million subscribers.
Other Russian officials have said that 5,000 Russian soldiers have been transferred to the battle for Vuhledar and that a major push is planned.
Even Ukrainian and neutral information sources have said that Vuhledar, positioned on high ground overlooking an important east-west road, is likely to fall.
DeepState, a pro-Ukraine Telegram channel, confirmed that Russia has sent “regular forces and special forces” as reinforcements to the area and OSINT Aggregator said Ukraine “may have tried to hold Vuhledar longer than operationally feasible”.
The town had a pre-war population of around 14,000 people. If it falls, it will be Vladimir Putin’s most significant battlefield victory since he captured Avdiivka in February.
