War in Ukraine: Russian troops advance into the center of Wuhledar

Russian troops have advanced into the eastern Ukrainian mining town of Wuhledar. “The fighting is taking place in the city area. Therefore, it is almost impossible to bring humanitarian aid there,” Donetsk region governor Vadym Filashkin told a Ukrainian news channel. Russian units have advanced almost into the city center. Of the almost 15,000 residents before the war, 107 remained in the city. All children and young people were evacuated in time.

Ukraine has been fending off a Russian invasion for over two and a half years. The small town of Wuhledar has been a frontline area since 2022.

The Russian army suffered massive losses in several unsuccessful advances there. In recent days, however, the Russian troops have managed to bypass the city, which had been converted into a fortress, to the east and west and threaten to encircle it. Military observers assume that Wuhledar will soon be captured by the Russian army.

At the same time, the Russian military reported two more captured towns. The Defense Ministry in Moscow said Vyshneve in the Kharkiv region on the border with the Luhansk region had been taken. However, the Ukrainian General Staff report said that Russian attacks in this sector were repelled. According to Russian information, the village of Krutyj Yar in the Donetsk region is under Russian control. Ukrainian military observers have been marking the place as Russian-controlled for several days, but according to the Ukrainian General Staff, fighting around the place is still ongoing.

Russian troops have been advancing in eastern Ukraine for months. The situation has deteriorated even further since the Ukrainian advance into the Russian border region of Kursk in August and the relocation of several brigades from eastern Ukraine to the new operational area. Since then, several small towns have been conquered by Russian troops.