Ukraine has said its army has retreated from a neighborhood in the outskirts of Chasiv Yar.
It comes as the strategically important town in the eastern Donetsk region has been reduced to rubble under a months-long Russian assault.
Chasiv Yar lies a short distance west Bakhmut, which was captured by Russia last year after a bitter 10-month battle. For months, Russian forces have focused on capturing Chasiv Yar, a town which occupies a strategic, elevated location. Its fall would put nearby cities in jeopardy, compromise critical Ukrainian supply routes and bring Russia closer to its stated aim of seizing the entire Donetsk region.
The Ukrainian army retreated from a northeastern neighborhood in the town of Nazar Voloshyn, the spokesman for the Khortytsia ground forces formation said in a written message Thursday.
Ukraine's defensive positions in the town were “destroyed,” he said, adding that there was a threat of serious casualties if troops remained in the area and that Russia did not leave “a single intact building.”
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