The Russian approach to Toretsk came less than a week after the fall of the Vuhledar stronghold.
"The situation is unstable, fighting is taking place literally at every entrance to the city. Russian troops have entered the eastern outskirts of the city," Anastasiia Bobovnikova, spokeswoman for the Lugansk Tactical Group, told Ukrainian state television.
The Russian Ministry of National Defense has not commented on the situation in Toretsk. However, on October 7, the ministry said that Russia had caused losses in manpower and equipment to Ukrainian forces near a number of settlements in the region, including near Toretsk.
Russian military bloggers, including a group of military analysts running the Rybar Telegram channel, said the Russian army continued to advance towards the city center.
Russia now controls nearly a fifth of Ukraine’s territory. Russian forces have been advancing toward Toretsk since August, taking each village with infantry backed by highly destructive guided bombs, according to Reuters.
For Ukraine, Toretsk has been a frontline city for the past 10 years because of its proximity to Ukrainian territories controlled by pro-Russian separatists in 2014.
For Russia, taking control of Toretsk (formerly known as Dzerzhinsk) would bring it closer to its goal of taking control of the Donbass region.
Ukrainian military analysts say that controlling the Toretsk hilltop would help Russia block important logistical routes connecting Kiev's rear with the war zone, including the main Pokrovsk - Kostyantynivka road.
Since the February 2022 attack, Russia has focused on gaining control of eastern Ukraine - the Donbass region, including Lugansk and Donetsk.
Since then, Donbass has become a major battleground, the site of some of the biggest battles in Europe in generations.
