Ukraine withdraws from eastern town of Vugledar

Ukraine withdraws from Vugledar, a significant territorial gain for Russia, raising concerns about defensive positions and humanitarian crisis.

Ukraine’s army said Wednesday (October 2, 2024) that it had withdrawn from the eastern town of Vugledar, handing Russia one of its most significant territorial gains in weeks.

The fall of the coal mining town raised new questions about Ukraine’s defensive positions along its southeastern front line with Russia advancing ahead of winter.

Around 14,000 people lived in Vugledar before Russia invaded, making it one of Moscow’s more important gains in months of grinding advances across the east.

“The High Command gave permission for a manoeuvre to withdraw units from Vugledar in order to save personnel and military equipment and take up a position for further operations,” Ukraine’s Khortytsia group of troops, which operates in the area, said in a Telegram post.

The unit said it had inflicted heavy losses on Russian forces but that relentless attacks meant “there was a threat of encirclement,” forcing it to withdraw.

Vugledar is about 50 km (30 miles) southwest of Donetsk city, the capital of a region Russia claims to have annexed.

Moscow’s forces have been trying to capture the town since the first weeks of its invasion, launched in February 2022.