Since February, Russian forces have steadily advanced across multiple sectors of the front in Donetsk Oblast. They have occupied villages previously liberated by Ukraine, wiped out entire towns, and introduced new threats to the region's overall defense.
Alongside Chasiv Yar, Niu York, and other towns, Russia aims to capture Toretsk, a city that lies in the path of its plan to reach the T0504 highway — a key logistics route for Ukrainian forces. As Russian troops have been getting closer from t