Russia: Russia amassing tens of thousands of troops around the key Ukrainian town of Chasiv Yar
Russia has amassed up to 25,000 soldiers around the strategic settlement of Chasiv Yar, the Ukrainian military said on Sunday, as the Kremlin claims to have seized another village in the Donetsk region.
“The enemy has amassed a grouping of 20,000-25,000 servicemen” around Chasiv Yar, Nazar Voloshyn, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s Khortytsia grouping of forces, told Ukrainian television in remarks reported by domestic media.
Newsweek has reached out to the Russian Defense Ministry for comment via email.
Chasiv Yar, a key town that sits west of the Russian-controlled Donetsk city of Bakhmut, was described by the U.S. think tank, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), as a “fortress city.” Capturing Chasiv Yar would help Russia attack the rest of Ukraine’s significant defensive settlements, the ISW has evaluated.