The Ukrainian town of Vuhledar was heavily fought over for two years. Now it is said to have fallen to the Russians. There were probably dramatic scenes.
There must have been dramatic scenes that took place on Tuesday on one of the most important fronts of the Ukrainian war. As the US think tank ISW reports, citing military bloggers, parts of the Ukrainian army are said to have fled headlong from the strategically important Wuhledar. Accordingly, the Russian forces had advanced so far in their attempt to take the city that the Ukrainian defenders had no choice but to retreat.
Video | Ukrainians fled from Wuhledar – this is where Russians raise their flag
Apparently the Ukrainian armed forces were threatened with encirclement around Wuhledar, so only one street was not yet occupied by Russian forces – the soldiers fled along this route. However, because Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s troops were already within artillery range of the escape route, they fired on the fleeing Ukrainians. Many of them are said to have died, as the Institute for War Studies reports.
However, Kiev’s troops are said to have avoided being completely wiped out by withdrawing at the last minute. This would likely have meant the death or captivity of hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers. Video images show Russian soldiers apparently hoisting Russian flags in the center of the city.
Russia had been trying to take Vuhledar, which is logistically important for the Ukrainians, for almost two years. In recent months, the Russian military has intensified its attacks on the mining town, which had 14,000 inhabitants before the start of the war. Putin’s troops virtually razed the city to the ground with relentless bombardment of heavy artillery and glide bombs. Ultimately, the town, in which around 100 residents are said to have been holed up, consisted only of ruins.
The noose around the Ukrainian defenders had tightened further, particularly in the past few days, after the Russian aggressors had advanced on both flanks of the city and Wuhledar was surrounded by Russian forces on three sides. On Tuesday they apparently managed to completely take over the city.
“Potentially, the loss could threaten the security of the entire southwestern part of the Donetsk region, which is not yet occupied,” military analyst Federico Borsari from the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) told the Kyiv Independent. According to Russian military bloggers, the capture of Wuhledar will not lead to the collapse of the front line in the region.