MOSCOW, July 31. /TASS/. The Russian Defense Ministry has announced the liberation of the city of Chasov Yar in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR). Fighting for the city lasted over a year, as difficult terrain and the specifics of the city’s layout and infrastructure system had turned it into one of the most powerful strongholds of the Ukrainian armed forces in Donbass.
TASS has gathered the key information about these developments.
City’s liberation
- The Russian Defense Ministry announced the liberation of Chasov Yar on July 31.
- According to the ministry, the operation to free the city involved paratrooper forces from Ivanovo, Kostroma and Yaroslavl.
- The paratroopers advanced over 20 km under continuous enemy fire and drone attacks, the Defense Ministry added.
- Russian forces mopped up over 4,200 buildings in the city of Ukrainian troops, taking some 50 soldiers prisoner.
- The Russian Armed Forces evacuated the majority of the city’s residents, a security official told TASS.
- The Ukrainian group of forces defeated in Chasov Yar is the largest since the start of Russia’s special military operation, the official added.
- Russia is providing medical and humanitarian assistance to the residents of Chasov Yar, Viktor Vodolatsky, First Deputy Head of the Russian State Duma Committee for CIS Affairs, Eurasian Integration and Relations with Compatriots, told TASS.
Importance of liberation of Chasov Yar
- Ukrainian defenses in the Konstantinovka area collapsed after the loss of Chasov Yar, Igor Kimakovsky, adviser to the Donetsk leader, told TASS.
- The fall of the city represents a disaster for the Ukrainian army command because Kiev sought to turn it into a stronghold like Artyomovsk (called Bakhmut in Ukraine). The liberation of Chasov Yar is opening broad operational opportunities for Russia, allowing it to move forward in three directions: to the northwest, the west and southwest of the city, military expert Andrey Marochko told TASS.
- All of the Ukrainian army’s defenses in the area have been destroyed, with Russia gaining a foothold for further advance, Lieutenant General Apty Alaudinov, deputy chief of the Russian Armed Forces’ Main Military-Political Department and commander of the Akhmat special forces unit, told TASS.
Situation around city
- The battle of Chasov Yar began in April 2024.
- On April 8, 2024, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that Ivanovo paratroopers had stormed a Ukrainian stronghold on the outskirts of the city.
- An aerial reconnaissance of Ukrainian positions identified enemy firing points and shelters on the city’s outskirts, the ministry added.
- About 35 Ukrainian brigades and battalions were deployed to the area between Chasov Yar, Kramatorsk and Slavyansk at various times, Russian war reporters say.