(Updated: )
Ukrainian forces have withdrawn from the town of Vuhledar in Donetsk Oblast, the Khortytsia group of forces said on Oct. 2.
"The higher command authorized a manoeuvre to withdraw units from Vuhledar in order to save personnel and military equipment, and take up a position for further operations," it said in a statement.
Ukraine's 72nd Mechanized Brigade has defended Vuhledar, key to Ukrainian defenses in the southern part of Donetsk Oblast, for nearly two years. Russian forces have been attempting to capture the town since the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022.
Vuhledar withstood numerous attacks in recent weeks as Russian forces attempted to encircle the town. Local authorities confirmed that Russian troops entered Vuhledar on Oct. 1, adding that fighting was ongoing.
Russia tried to capture the town "at any cost" by sending reserves to attack its flanks, which exhausted defending Ukrainians units, the military said.
"As a result of the enemy's actions there was a threat of the town being encircled," the statement added.
The front-line town lies about 50 kilometers (30 miles) southwest of occupied Donetsk and roughly 40 kilometers (25 miles) east of the administrative border with Zaporizhzhia Oblast.
Vuhledar is located north of a key intersection connecting the O-0532 road towards Vodiane and Kostiantynivka, a small paved road toward Kurakhove, and the partly occupied T-0509 highway toward Velyka Novosilka.
"It is, therefore, a key logistic point for Ukrainian forces defending the southern flank of Kurakhove," Federico Borsari, a fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA), told the Kyiv Independent last month.
Vuhledar is also the last fortified town before the village of Velyka Novosilka and the entire southern part of Donetsk Oblast that Ukraine controls.
The occupied section of the T-0509 highway, which passes south of Vuhledar, is essential for Russian forces trying to advance westward.
Kateryna Hodunova
