Pyrrhic Win For Russia As Ukraine Withdraws From Vuhledar, Preserving Troops

After another lengthy, heroic defense - this one lasting three years, Ukrainian troops withdrew from Vuhledar as their position became untenable. 

The withdrawal, like those at Severodonetsk, Bakhmut and Avdiivka, came only after the Ukrainians had inflicted horrendous casualties on the attacking Russians. JL

Marc Santora reports in the New York Times:

Vuhledar stood longer than other fortress towns for months or years before falling to Russian forces, like Bakhmut and Avdiivka. (But) despite its gains, the offensive has been costly for Russia. The past four months have been the deadliest of the war for Russian forces and analysts say it is unclear how long they can sustain the current pace of attacks. A call come over a Russian’s radio, offering a glimpse of his side’s struggles. “‘Help us,’” another Russian soldier said. “‘We’ve been four days without water and food.’”

For nearly three years, the mining town of Vuhledar has underpinned Ukraine’s defense of its southern Donbas region, the industrial heart of the country that has become a tableau of desolation and destruction.

Now the town, its rows of stark Soviet-style apartment blocks battered by the full force of Moscow’s arsenal, is falling to Russian troops who have been grinding their way across the region in recent months, Ukrainian soldiers said.

On Monday, Russian forces moved into part of Vuhledar for the first time, hanging a flag over a ruined building, according to combat footage released by Russian forces and verified by military analysts. By Tuesday night, Ukrainian soldiers said the town was almost fully under Russian control. Combat footage showed the Russians in every corner of the city, according to the DeepState group analysts mapping the battlefield. The impending loss of Vuhledar highlights what has become a grim pattern in the war in eastern Ukraine, with Russia’s scorched-earth tactics and headlong assaults steadily eroding Ukrainian defenses.

Defeat in Vuhledar would represent both a strategic loss for the Ukrainian military and a symbolic blow given the central role this town has played holding back the Russian onslaught.

As the final battle for the city unfolded, Ukrainian soldiers said the only way out for soldiers still in the city late last week was on foot as they were hunted by drones and bombarded by artillery.

“There’s nowhere to hold ground,” said Doc, the call sign for a senior lieutenant from the 72nd Mechanized Brigade, which has been defending Vuhledar. “The logistics are disrupted, making it almost impossible to stay there.” Despite its gains, the offensive has been costly for Russia.

British officials say that the past four months have been the deadliest of the war for Russian forces and analysts say it is unclear how long they can sustain the current pace of attacks.

Civilians living in the area have spoken of a rapid Russian advance.

Olha Bondarenko, 63, walked for two days to cross the front line after the Russians swept into her village, destroying homes and other buildings. Maj. Vasyl Pipa, 41, a member of the White Angels, a unit of the national police responsible for evacuations, said the annihilation of villages was shocking.

“This destruction goes ahead of the Russian military,” he said on Wednesday as he raced to evacuate civilians from villages on the outskirts of Vuhledar. “It’s like death.” Under a clear blue sky, the steppe stretched to the horizon, with slag heaps from the coal mines that once fueled the local economy punctuating the flat expanse. Amid the rumble of artillery, plumes of black smoke billowed along the road as glide bombs thundered down around his armored car.

Vuhledar stood longer than other places that served as fortress towns for months or years before falling to Russian forces, like Bakhmut and Avdiivka. Over the years, its residents have lived under constant attack. “Everything short of nuclear weapons rains down on them,” Lieutenant Doc said on Friday after completing another mission to evacuate the wounded. “Words cannot convey this.”

The commander of an assault platoon, Lt. Serhii Stetsenko, described in January how the town had come under relentless attack from the air and ground. “At first, it’s terrifying,” he said, “but now I don’t know if it’s scary or not.” The 41-year-old father of two was killed in May. By this summer, years of fighting without rotation or proper replenishment had taken its toll, soldiers said.

After repeated failures attacking Vuhledar from the south, the Russians began to push forward to the northeast of the city this spring.

“When Russians pushed to take control over the road toward Vodiane and started moving on flanks, it became clear we might lose it if no reinforcements were directed to the area,” said Roman, a brigade commander.

Senior Lt. Dmytro, another member of the 72nd Brigade, said the situation had turned critical when the Russians captured two mines that had served as bases northeast of the city. Lieutenant Dmytro, like more than a dozen other soldiers interviewed on the front this month, asked that only his first name or call sign be used in accordance with military protocol.

A colonel in the White Angels, Artem Shchus, estimated that there were around 50 people still trapped in Vuhledar, a fraction of the 14,000 who once lived there.

Ms. Bondarenko, the woman who walked across the front line, described how the Russian forces came to her village after a “horrifying” bombing campaign. After her home went up in flames, she set off on foot and came across a Russian soldier.

Russia was responsible for destroying her home, she told him, and she was going to put her life back together — in Ukrainian-controlled territory. Before she walked off, she said, she heard a call come over the Russian’s radio, offering a glimpse of his side’s struggles.

“‘Help us,’” she said she heard another Russian soldier say. “‘We’ve been four days without water and food.’”

She did not hear a reply, she said, only silence.

It was unclear if the Russians had complete control over the town and the Ukrainian military had no official comment.