Russian forces enter Ukrainian outpost after months of siege

Russian troops entered a Ukrainian outpost on the eastern front line as Kremlin forces ground their way forward in an offensive that authorities in Kyiv have struggled to stem.

As Russian President Vladimir Putin seeks to cement his control over Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, fighting took place within Vuhledar, a strategically located coal-mining town that Ukrainian forces have held near occupied territory since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022.

“The enemy is now almost in the center of the town,” Donetsk regional governor Vadym Filashkin told a local broadcaster Tuesday. Analysts at DeepState, a map service maintained in cooperation with the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, showed roughly half of Vuhledar under Russian control.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has made increasingly urgent pleas to Western allies for military hardware, air defense and long-range missiles as Russian forces gain ground. After seizing the city of Avdiivka in Donetsk in February, Kremlin troops have gradually built on the advance, threatening strategic towns such as Pokrovsk, more than 600 kilometers (380 miles) southeast of Kyiv.

Advantageous Position

Located in the industry-heavy Donetsk region, Vuhledar had a pre-war population of some 15,000, though the war has left it mostly abandoned with swathes of buildings in rubble. The town lies on an elevated plain near a Russian-controlled rail link between Donetsk city and occupied Crimea, giving Kremlin soldiers a potentially improved logistical position.

The land route could serve as an alternative to a maritime passage that’s come under increasing attacks by Ukrainian naval drones.

While Russian military bloggers have posted that Kremlin troops entered the town, the Defense Ministry in Moscow hasn’t yet commented.

The advance marks a contrast with Ukraine’s surprise cross-border incursion into the western Russian region of Kursk, an operation that many allies viewed as a way to draw Kremlin troops away from the eastern front. Still, Russian forces have continued to make slow if steady progress in the east.

Despite the seizure of a relatively small settlement that lies mostly in ruins, the fall of Vuhledar could add pressure on Zelenskyy. The Ukrainian leader made a diplomatic push in the U.S. last week to move forward a “victory plan” aimed at applying pressure on Putin to negotiate a peace.

The outline, which was presented to President Joe Biden, got a lukewarm reception from officials in Washington, while Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump reinforced his intention to end the war quickly if he’s elected.

A significant portion of Donetsk was captured by Russian-backed troops in 2014 after the Kremlin seizure of Crimea — and Russian forces pushed forward in 2022 in an attempt to take all of the eastern Donbas region as well as southern Ukraine. Putin’s troops failed to take Vuhledar in a major push early last year, though much of the town was destroyed in the attempt.

—With assistance from Kateryna Chursina.