DONETSK, August 5. /TASS/. It may take several weeks for Russian troops to complete their mop-up operation in Chasov Yar in the Donetsk region, DPR (Donetsk People’s Republic) Head Denis Pushilin said during a live broadcast on the Rossiya-24 television channel on Tuesday.
"Some time will be required to complete the mop-up operation in the town itself [Chasov Yar]. However, it is a matter of several days or, perhaps, even weeks to say that this settlement has been fully cleared of the enemy," the DPR head said.
A mine clearance effort will begin in Chasov Yar after it is fully cleared of the enemy, he added.
The Ukrainian military command had placed a large number of military headquarters on the territory of Chasov Yar. In addition, the town was protected by several defensive lines and the natural water barrier - the Seversky Donets Canal, Pushilin said.
Russia’s Defense Ministry reported on July 31 that its Battlegroup South had liberated the town of Chasov Yar in the Donetsk People’s Republic in an offensive in the Kramatorsk-Druzhkovka area. Chasov Yar had been one of the most fortified areas of the Ukrainian army in the Donbass region due to the complex landscape and specifics of its urban layout and infrastructure.
As adviser to the DPR head Igor Kimakovsky specified to TASS, the Russian army’s operation to liberate Chasov Yar actually caused a collapse of the Ukrainian defenses in the Konstantinovka direction.