Chasiv Yar, a key location in the Ukraine war, is under great pressure from Putin's army. An important brigade is withdrawn. Can the city be held?
Kiev – The situation in the Ukraine war is deadlocked. Now Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj also has problems away from the front. The Ukrainian city of Chasiv Yar was long held and defended by the 67th Mechanized Infantry. Now the brigade is suddenly being withdrawn - due to differences between the Defense Ministry in Kiev and right-wing extremists in the group.
Ukraine has sometimes had the problem of individual right-wing groups in the military well under control. After weeks of back and forth, the Ministry of Defense has now decided: the brigade will be withdrawn from the city and relocated to the front. The 67th Mechanized Brigade held the position at the strategically important town of Chasiv Yar. The timing couldn't have been more inappropriate.
Because: The Russian troops are on the advance - right now the city needs more firepower, as
Forbes
reports. However, the regional brigade, which has to serve as a replacement, is significantly inferior to the mechanized brigade. Now drones have to compensate for the lack of explosive power in order to repel Vladimir Putin's troops.
Geographically important position makes Chasiv Yar the key to the Donetsk region in the Ukrainian war
Now that the brigade has been withdrawn, the defense is in dire straits. Already in January, a medical supply unit and an assault force split off from the brigade. Even then there were reports of differences between the leadership and the subordinate troops. However, the problems were now so serious that the brigade had to be relocated. And this despite the fact that the Kremlin had set itself the goal of taking the city by May 9th at the latest.
And the city on the Ukrainian front is in a geographically important position. On a hill, Chasiv Yar overlooks the towns of Kostiantynivka and Kramatorsk. The Canal District in particular must be defended in order to keep Russia's army out of the city in the long term. Frontelligence Insight, a Ukrainian military analysis group, is certain: “If Ukraine loses control of Chasiv Yar, there could be serious consequences.”
Ukraine needs reinforcements to hold the Donetsk region
A spokesman for the Ukrainian military, Nazar Voloshyn, said in a statement: “If the Russian occupiers manage to take this city, they will have the opportunity to launch an offensive on Kostiantynivka, Druzhkivka, Kramatorsk and Sloviansk.” And these cities are the last strongholds of the Ukrainians, in the Donetsk region, as Voloshyn noted. If Chasiv Yar falls, it could trigger a domino effect for the entire Donetsk region, after which the remaining cities can no longer be held.
Russian troops are said to have come within 500 meters of the city, as
can be read on
Politico
. The Ukrainian city is still under Kiev's control, but Chasiv Yar urgently needs reinforcements. And the soldiers on site have also seen better days. “The quality of training, including the moral and psychological components, needs to be improved,” said Oleksandr Syrskyi, the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
In order to better defend the Ukrainian position, more high-tech drones and robots are now to be stationed in Chassiv Yar. Syrskyi announced that the city's garrison would also be equipped with "unmanned high-tech systems for various purposes, with trained personnel." It remains to be hoped whether this will slow the Russian advance for the time being.
(SiSchr)