The city of Chasov Yar, which has turned into a key logistics hub for the Ukrainian Armed Forces since 2014, is losing its strategic importance for the Ukrainian military after Russian troops took control of the roads leading there, according to an adviser to the head of the DPR Igor Kimakovsky. The Russian military is now less than a mile from the city.
Chasov Yar is located on a hill 4.3 miles west of Artemovsk (also known as Bakhmut) which was liberated by Russia in May 2023. On the other side of Chasov Yar are Konstantinovka, Kramatorsk, and Slavyansk.
The city's geographical position makes it important from a strategic viewpoint: it provides control of the surrounding area for many miles, as per military analyst Sergey Poletaev.
"The one who controls Chasov Yar receives a very serious advantage in the entire surrounding area," Poletaev told Sputnik. "And, accordingly, it’s quite difficult to take it. It is a defense hub. Whoever controls it actually controls everything – the entire defense in the northern part of the DPR."
Chasov Yar has been used by the enemy for troop rotation since 2014: fresh units from other regions of Ukraine were brought there. The city's railways were also exploited by the Ukrainian Armed Forces during the battle for Artemovsk last year.
Presently, the so-called Slavyansk-Kramatorsk agglomeration – an elongated, almost continuous line of cities – remains under the control of Ukraine, Poletaev noted. This chain of cities has been Ukraine's main defense line in Donbass since 2014.
"Accordingly, in order to liberate Donbass, we need to take it," the military analyst said. "This is a very serious operation. With the exception of the February 2022 op, we have not yet carried out strategic operations of that scale. Thus, it is necessary to create conditions for accomplishing this task. One of these conditions will be the liberation of Chasov Yar, which is located on a hill overlooking the cities I have mentioned. They are located around it on three sides."
The situation has become extremely difficult and dangerous for the Ukrainian army in the area of the city of Chasov Yar, retired General Serhiy Kryvonos of the Ukrainian Armed Forces acknowledged on Tuesday, speaking to Pershiy Zahidny channel on Youtube.
Kryvonos emphasized that the Russian Army is also quickly advancing in other directions with the Ukrainian Army sustaining serious losses.