Ukraine holds 40-50% of Toretsk, official says

Ukraine controls roughly 40-50% of the town of Toretsk while the rest has been captured by Russia, the city's military administration head, Vasyl Chynchyk, said on Oct. 11.

Toretsk, a town some 35 kilometers (20 miles) north of occupied Donetsk, is one of the focal points of the Russian offensive in Donetsk Oblast, where Russian troops are steadily pushing back Ukrainian defenders step by step.

Speaking on air on national television, Chynchyk said that roughly 1,150 people remain in the ruined town. Roughly 70,000 residents lived in Toretsk before the full-scale invasion.

"We are making every effort to evacuate civilians... The security situation allows entering the town and evacuating the population only in certain periods when there is a lull in fighting or favorable weather conditions," the official said.

The Ukrainian military said earlier this week that fights are taking place "at every building entrance" as Russian forces are pushing from the east along the main Tsentralna (Central) Street.

The crowdsourced monitoring website DeepState indicates that settlements on the eastern outskirts of Toretsk – Pivnichne, Zalizne, Druzhba, and Pivdenne – are fully or almost completely in Russian hands.

According to the monitoring group, Russian forces have been advancing along Tsentralna Street since late September and have reached the town's center as of October. At the same time, the map published by DeepState indicates that Ukraine still holds the majority of Toretsk proper, contradicting Chynchyk's statement.

The Kyiv Independent could not verify all the claims.

"The situation is very bad, and if our command doesn't send reserves there in the nearest future, the situation would be very difficult, if not catastrophic," Ukrainian military expert Mykhailo Zhyrokhov told the Kyiv Independent.

The loss of Toretsk would be another blow to Ukraine in Donetsk Oblast after its forces were forced to withdraw from Vuhledar in the south. Russian forces also continue pushing toward Pokrovsk, a key logistics hub roughly 50 kilometers (30 miles) west of Toretsk.

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The Kyiv IndependentAsami Terajima