KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian troops are withdrawing from the frontline town of Vuhledar, located atop a tactically important hill in eastern Ukraine, after more than two years of heavy fighting, military officials said Wednesday.
Vuhledar, a city that Ukrainian forces fought tooth and nail for, is the latest urban settlement to fall into Russian hands. It follows a brutal summer campaign along the Eastern Front, in which Kiev ceded thousands of square kilometers of territory.
The Ukrainian ground force formation Khortytsia, which commands eastern regions including Donetsk, said in a statement on Telegram that it was withdrawing troops from Vuhledar to “protect military personnel and equipment.”
“In an attempt to take control of the city at any cost, the reserves were ordered to carry out flanking attacks, which exhausted the defenses of the units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. As a result of the enemy’s actions, a threat to encircle the city arose,” the statement said.
The tactical significance of the city, located at the confluence of two main roads, is twofold. Dominant heights and proximity to railway lines give Moscow greater protection for its own logistics routes, and a better vantage point for attacks on Ukrainian forces and supply lines feeding the south.
Its capture is another step in Moscow’s belt, bringing it closer to the main logistics hub Pokrovsk.
