Vuhledar is located on high ground near a railway line that transports supplies from Crimea. Russia's control of Vuhledar made it impossible for Ukrainian forces to cut off Russian supply lines.
Capturing Vuhledar also gives Russia control of the nearby H-15 highway, thereby "eliminating Ukraine's vast salient in western Donetsk Oblast," according to the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank.
Ukraine pushed Russian positions back 7.5km in a crescent-shaped area in a counteroffensive last year. That achievement may now be under threat. Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskii has ordered defences in Donetsk to be strengthened after the loss of Vuhledar.
“Russia's capture of Vuhledar will not radically change the operational situation in western Donetsk Oblast and Russian forces will likely struggle to achieve their objectives,” the Institute for the Study of War stressed.
Russia has struggled to make significant gains across the eastern front.
Since February, when it captured Avdiivka, Russia has advanced 35 km west towards Pokrovsk, but Commander-in-Chief Syrskii said a Ukrainian counteroffensive in Russia's Kursk province in August stopped that advance 10 km from Pokrovsk.
About 50 km northeast of the Pokrovsk frontline, Russian forces have been targeting the city of Chasiv Yar all summer but have so far only captured a portion of the city's eastern side.
Another 40 km northeast of Chasiv Yar, Russian forces attempted to take control of Siversk but were unsuccessful.
About 100 km north of Siversk, in Kharkiv, Russia launched a battalion-sized attack on September 26 in the direction of Kupyansk with 50 armored vehicles and tanks deployed. Ukraine repelled the attack, damaging or destroying 40 vehicles.
According to Al Jazeera, Russia has advanced step by step on all fronts this year, capturing more than 800 square kilometers of territory.
