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Editor's note: This article has been updated after Andrii Polukhin, a spokesperson for Ukraine's 24th Mechanized Brigade, said that he mistakenly calculated that Russia controlled 40% of Chasiv Yar. In his correction, Polukhin did not say how much of Chasiv Yar Russian forces control.
Russian forces control part of the embattled Donetsk Oblast town of Chasiv Yar, but Ukraine is preventing them from crossing the canal in the eastern part of the city, said Andrii Polukhin, a spokesperson for Ukraine's 24th Mechanized Brigade, on national television on Aug. 29.
Earlier in the day, Polukhin said that Russian forces controlled 40% of the town, but he later said that the estimate was a mistake. According to the crowd-sourced monitoring website DeepState, Russian forces control only 8% of Chasiv Yar.
After capturing Avdiivka in February, Russian forces shifted their focus toward Chasiv Yar, an elevated town that potentially creates an opening for further Russian advances into Donetsk Oblast.
Ukraine's military withdrew from the eastern Kanal neighborhood in July, but military experts told the Kyiv Independent at the time that the withdrawal had "no strategic consequences." Polukhin confirmed that the front line still runs along the canal that divides the city from its eastern neighborhood.
If the town is fully captured, Russian forces could utilize its elevation to gain an increased advantage for attacks on the neighboring towns of Kostiantynivka and Druzhkivka, as well as the larger nearby city of Kramatorsk, Polukhin said.
The seizure of Chasiv Yar could be "a very dangerous thing" for Ukraine's defensive positions in Donetsk Oblast, he said.
Fighting in Chasiv Yar has been highly destructive and costly for Russian troops.
Nazar Voloshyn, the spokesperson for the Khortytsia group of forces, said in July that over 5,000 Russian troops had been lost fighting for one district of the town.
"At the moment, the city of Chasiv Yar is destroyed," Polukhin said.
Before the full-scale invasion, Chasiv Yar was home to about 12,000 people. By April 2024, around 700 people remained.
In recent weeks, Russian forces have been closing in on the city of Pokrovsk, located some 70 kilometers (43 miles) southwest of Chasiv Yar. Donetsk Oblast Governor Vadym Filashkin said on Aug. 28 that some 38,000 people remained in the city, which is an important logistical hub for Ukrainian forces and supports their operations in Donetsk Oblast.
Chris York
