Ukrainian troops have withdrawn from the Kanal neighborhood of the embattled town of Chasiv Yar in Donetsk Oblast, said Nazar Voloshyn, the spokesperson for the Khortytsia group of forces, on state television on July 4.
The decision was made because defensive positions in the neighborhood were destroyed, and commanders agreed to withdraw to better-protected positions, Voloshyn said.
After capturing Avdiivka in February, Russian forces shifted their focus toward Chasiv Yar, an elevated town that potentially opens for Russia the way to further advances into Donetsk Oblast.
Voloshyn said in late June that Russian troops had been repelled from the Kanal neighborhood but that they had not given up their intention to make a breakthrough in the Chasiv Yar area.
Russian forces have ramped up their offensive in Donetsk Oblast, focusing one of their main efforts on Chasiv Yar.
Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine's Armed Forces Oleksandr Syrskyi said on July 2 that fighting had been particularly intense in recent weeks around the town of Toretsk, located some 25 kilometers (15 miles) south of Chasiv Yar.
Chris York
