Around 20,000 to 25,000 Russian troops are trying to storm Chasiv Yar and surrounding settlements, Nazar Voloshyn, the Khortytsia Group of Forces' spokesperson, said on national television on April 22.
Chasiv Yar is situated in Donetsk Oblast, around 10 kilometers (six miles) west of Bakhmut and 50 kilometers (31 miles) north of Avdiivka, cities Russia captured in May 2023 and February 2024, respectively.
Russian forces have been focusing their efforts near Chasiv Yar, which they see as crucial for further advances toward Kostiantynivka, Kramatorsk, and Sloviansk, the Ukrainian military said.
Ukrainian troops are fighting off Russian paratroopers with the 98th Guards Airborne Division's 217th Guards Airborne Regiment in the area near Chasiv Yar, Voloshyn said.
Russian troops are "constantly storming" Ukrainian positions but are failing to gain a foothold and are retreating, he added.
"Chasiv Yar is ours now. The situation around the town is difficult, but the town is under full control of our defense forces. There is no Russian army in the town," the spokesperson said.
Volodymyr Cherniak, a Ukrainian National Guard officer, said earlier that Russian forces "managed to gain a foothold" around the village of Bohdanivka, three kilometers northeast of Chasiv Yar.
Moscow's proxies claimed on April 5 that Russian troops had entered Chasiv Yar's suburbs, but Ukraine's military later refuted that statement.
In an interview with NBC News published on April 21, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia will attempt to capture the town of Chasiv Yar in Donetsk Oblast, just west of the Russian-occupied Bakhmut, by May 9.
Russia celebrates Victory Day on May 9, a heavily militarized holiday marking the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany during World War II.
Zelensky's comments align with those made by Ukraine's Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi on April 14, amid a deteriorating situation in the region as Ukrainian ammunition and supplies run short.
Asami Terajima
