The lines are moving: after a year of relative stability, Russian forces are making progress against the Ukrainian army, which is struggling to renew its troops and is accusing a lack of ammunition linked to delays in Western aid. The men of the Kremlin are now aiming to conquer Tchassiv Iar, perched on a height, located 20 kilometers west of Bakhmout, a town which Russia seized in May 2023 after months of violent battles. “The situation regarding Chasiv Yar is difficult and tense, and this is not the first day” when this is the case, said Oleg Kalashnikov, press officer of the 26th Ukrainian artillery brigade.
From the dominant position around Chassiv Iar, the Russians would have an important base and would be able to target the cities located below: first Kramatorsk, the main city in the region under Ukrainian control and an important logistical node for the army of kyiv, then potentially Sloviansk. These two cities have symbolic value for Moscow: a decade ago, pro-Russian separatists briefly seized them during the first clashes against the Ukrainians.
The Telegram channel DeepState, close to the Ukrainian army and followed by nearly 690,000 people, indicated that the Russians had “penetrated houses” on the eastern outskirts of this city. Also, Ukrainian and Russian military bloggers wrote on Friday that Russian troops had reached the outskirts of the city. But Ukrainian commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrsky maintained this Saturday, April 6, that “Chasiv Yar remains under control, all enemy attempts to break through this front have failed,” even if the city is the scene of violent clashes. The head of the sector’s military administration, Serguiï Tchaous, told AFP that the situation there had become more dangerous recently.
770 people still in Tchassiv
Wounded soldiers in Chassiv Yar may now have difficulty obtaining emergency first aid before evacuation. The last known urgent care clinic was moved out of town for security reasons. One of his doctors told AFP that the evacuation teams were no longer going to Chassiv Iar, which had become too dangerous. Around 770 people are still in the city, compared to around 13,000 before the war, the head of the military administration, Serguiï Tchaous, told the press agency.
Ukraine has been on the defensive for several months due to a lack of ammunition. “The current estimate is that Russia fires 10,000 artillery shells per day compared to Ukraine’s 2,000, a dismal ratio that could get even worse in the absence of future munitions donations from the United States,” recalls the British daily The Guardian. Aid of 60 billion dollars (55 billion euros) promised by Washington has been blocked for months because of political rivalries between Republicans and Democrats in the American Congress.
On the ground, time is running out. The commander of the Ukrainian land forces on Friday April 5 deemed a Russian summer offensive involving 100,000 men “possible”, while considering that it was the “gloomiest forecast”. For its part, the specialized journal The Economist evokes “a major offensive” on the part of Russia before the summer, as “it did last year”.
Galvanized by the conquest of the town of Avdiïvka, Moscow attacks the Ukrainian forces on several positions along the 950 kilometers of the front line. And on the Ukrainian side? Despite the difficulties on the front, kyiv continues its attacks on Russian territory. On April 2, long-range Ukrainian drones targeted a factory and refinery in the republic of Tatarstan, in the very heart of the Russian Federation.