RT reported that Ukrainian forces in the fortress city of Ugledar in the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) said they were withdrawing from the stronghold after weeks of fierce fighting with the Russian army.
Located on a hill in an open area and consisting almost exclusively of high-rise concrete buildings, Ugledar was turned into a large fortress by the Ukrainian army.
The battle for the stronghold has been going on for months but in recent weeks Russian forces have stepped up their attacks and taken control of some parts of the town.
On October 2, the Khortitsa special forces of the Ukrainian army issued a statement on the Telegram channel revealing that "the high command has authorized a withdrawal of troops from Ugledar".
The move is aimed at “preserving combat personnel and equipment” for further combat operations, Khortitsa explained.
According to the group, Ukrainian units in Ugledar were "exhausted" by Russian attacks on both flanks and "the town was in danger of being surrounded".
Earlier in the day, a security source told the TASS news agency that Russian forces had nearly completed their “clean-up” operation in the town. Some Kiev units there suffered “significant losses” after failing to leave Ugledar in time, the source added.
Also on October 2, Yan Gagin, an adviser to the head of the DPR, told RIA Novosti that the Russian flag had been raised over the town hall in Ugledar. However, Yan Gagin also noted that it was too early to say that Moscow forces had taken full control of the town.
The Russian Ministry of National Defense did not mention Ugledar in its daily bulletin. It reported the capture of the village of Verkhnekamenskoye in the northeast of the Donetsk People's Republic. The settlement is located 5 km east of the town of Seversk, an important Ukrainian stronghold and a logistics hub in the region.
The Russian Ministry of National Defence estimates that Ukrainian forces have lost up to 2,120 servicemen across the frontline in the past 24 hours.
Ugledar is a town built around a coal mine (its name comes from the Ukrainian word for coal). Located about 50 km south of Pokrovsk, Ugledar has been considered the main focus of Russia's offensive in the east over the past few months.
Although not a transport and logistics hub like Pokrovsk, Ugledar was heavily fortified and considered an important bastion at the junction of Ukraine's eastern and southern fronts. The capture of Ugledar was seen by many observers as a strategic victory for Russia.
This makes victory "a matter of operational strategy, if not the operational strategy," says prominent Russian war blogger Boris Rozhin.
“The fact that this ‘balcony’ (implying the high position of Ugledar) is located at the junction of the Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk fronts poses a constant threat to the group defending the approaches to Mariupol,” noted popular war blogger Boris Rozhin, referring to the southern Ukrainian city that has been in Russian hands since 2022.
