June 5, 2024
Newsweek
Ukrainian forces held their ground in the strategically important eastern Ukrainian town of Chasiv Yar as Russian troops are reported to have failed an attempt to cross a canal in the area.
The town, which had a pre-war population of more than 12,000, and is dissected by a canal, is located some 7 miles from the war-torn city of Bakhmut which was seized by Russian forces last May. The town in the Donetsk region has been the focus of Moscow’s military since March.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a Washington D.C.-based think tank, has said that Russia’s ongoing offensive efforts to seize Chasiv Yar offers its forces the most immediate prospects for operationally significant advances.
Its seizure “would likely allow Russian forces to launch subsequent offensive operations against Kostyantynivka and Druzhkivka, cities that form the southern part of a significant Ukrainian defensive belt in Donetsk Oblast,” it said on May 22.
In its latest analysis of the conflict in Ukraine, the ISW said that while Russian forces continued offensive operations near the town on Tuesday, there were no confirmed changes to the frontline.
“Russian forces conducted assaults on Chasiv Yar’s eastern outskirts, north of Chasiv Yar near Kalynivka, east of Chasiv Yar near Ivanivske, and southeast of Chaisv Yar near Klishchiivka and Andriivka on June 3 and 4,” the think tank said.
Kirill Sazonov, a Ukrainian soldier told local TV channel Kyiv24 in an interview published Tuesday that a Russian unit attempted to conduct an offensive to cross a canal in Chasiv Yar, but ultimately failed.
Moscow deployed an armored vehicle and troops to the eastern streets of the town, but they were destroyed by Ukrainian forces, and Chasiv Yar remains under Ukrainian control, he said.
Sazonov said Ukraine is able to spot Russian troop movements using drones and has therefore been able to destroy units as they attempt to advance in the area. He added, however, that Ukraine faces a similar issue—troops are unable to advance due to enemy drones.
Euromaidan Press, an independent English-language news website launched in 2014 by volunteers from Ukraine, also reported on Tuesday that Russia was dealt a “disastrous defeat” in Chasiv Yar after attempting to advance across the canal and establish positions further west.
Last month, pro-Ukrainian analyst Radu Hossu said that Russia may exploit “a war-weary Western population and the internal political tensions of each European state” to build
international pressure for an “unjust, unfair, morally disarming peace,” should its forces seize the town.
“The battle for Chasiv Yar is an essential, almost crucial piece in a potential domino [effect] that certainly none of us want,” Hossu wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.