Through his efforts, this 22-year-old man showed people that an ordinary person can make a contribution through sheer will and determination, says Canadian government
world3 days ago
Russian troops on Wednesday took charge of the eastern Ukrainian town of Vuhledar, a bastion that had resisted intense attacks since Russia launched its full-scale assault in 2022.
The advance of Moscow's forces, which control just under a fifth of Ukraine, has underlined Russia's vast superiority in men and materiel as Ukraine pleads for more weapons from the Western allies that have been supporting it.
Ukraine's eastern military command said it had ordered a pullback from the hilltop coal mining town to avoid encirclement by Russian troops and "preserve personnel and military equipment".
The Russian defence ministry did not mention Vuhledar in its daily battlefield report.
Russian Telegram channels, however, published video of troops waving the Russian tricolour flag over shattered buildings.
The town, which had a population of over 14,000 before the war, has been devastated, with Soviet-era apartment buildings smashed apart and scarred.
The Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper said the last Ukrainian forces from the 72nd Mechanised Brigade, a unit famous for its resistance, had abandoned the town late on Tuesday.
President Vladimir Putin has said Russia's primary tactical goal is to take the whole of the Donbas region — the provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk — in southeastern Ukraine.
Russia controls about 80 per cent of the Donbas, a heavy industry hub where the conflict began in 2014 when Moscow supported pro-Russian separatist forces after a pro-Russian president was toppled in Kyiv and Moscow seized Crimea from Ukraine.
Vuhledar taken in rapid Russian advance
Since Russia sent its army into Ukraine in February 2022, the war has largely been a story of grinding artillery and drone strikes along a heavily fortified 1,000-km front involving hundreds of thousands of soldiers.
But in August the battlefield became much more dynamic: Ukraine smashed through the border in Russia's Kursk region in a bid to divert Russian forces, and Russian troops began advancing faster than before in eastern Ukraine.
Russian forces have been pushing westwards at key points along some 150km of the front in the Donetsk region, with the logistics hub of Pokrovsk also a key target.
They captured Ukrainsk on September 17 and then began encircling Vuhledar, about 80km south of Pokrovsk.
Russia has been using pincer tactics to trap and then constrict Ukrainian strongholds. Images from the area showed intense bombardment of the town with artillery and aerial glide bombs.
Neither side discloses losses, and each said the other had paid a high human price for the town.
Control of Vuhledar, which lies at the intersection of the eastern and southern battlefields, is significant because it will ease Russia's advance as it tries to pierce deeper behind the Ukrainian defensive lines.
Russian bloggers said Russia could now try to push towards Velyka Novosilka, just over 30km to the west.
Vuhledar also sits close to a railway line connecting Crimea to the Donbas region.
Russian forces currently control 98.5 per cent of the Luhansk region and 60 per cent of the Donetsk region.
Through his efforts, this 22-year-old man showed people that an ordinary person can make a contribution through sheer will and determination, says Canadian government
world3 days ago
Aftershocks shake the island nation overnight; people queue for fuel and essentials; US, Australia and France send aid, rescue teams
world3 days ago
The 53-year-old from Alabama is currently the only living person with an animal organ transplant
world4 days ago
Sara had been subjected to 'acts of extreme cruelty' but Sharif and Batool had not shown 'a shred of remorse', says judge Cavanagh
world4 days ago
The UNHCR Director said that some of those fleeing could be linked to the former government or else be religious minorities with concerns
world4 days ago
Rafah residents say Israeli tanks pushed deeper towards the western area of Mawasi, known as a humanitarian-designated area
world4 days ago
Kamal Adwan is one of the last operational medical facilities in the north of the war-ravaged territory, with the WHO warning earlier this month that it was operating at a 'minimum' level
world4 days ago
A tsunami warning was issued after the quake, with waves of up to one metre forecast for some areas, but it was soon lifted by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre
world4 days ago