What impact will the liberation of Chasov Yar have?
Author: Yevgeny Krutikov
The Russian military has achieved a major operational victory in the special military operation area — after months of fighting, the city of Chasov Yar was liberated. Why did the Ukrainian armed forces defend this city so stubbornly, what significance does this city hold for Ukraine's defense, and what impact will controlling it have on the course of the war?
The Russian Ministry of Defense officially announced the liberation of the city of Chasov Yar in the Donetsk People's Republic. There had been months of fierce fighting around the city. The suburbs of the city may still have enemy forces, but overall, the entire complex and the areas within the city's old administrative boundaries (including several forests, ponds, quarries, and industrial areas) are now under the complete control of the Russian Federation Armed Forces.
In the final assault, paratroopers from the 98th Airborne Division participated. They defeated the enemy (the 24th "King Daniel" Mechanized Brigade and the 16th National Guard Brigade), which had withdrawn beyond the city's administrative boundaries.
The vanguard units of the Russian Federation Armed Forces approached Chasov Yar in the spring of 2024. In July, the Ministry of Defense announced the liberation of the "Canal" district. By August, the Russian forces controlled about 40% of the city area. After that, a difficult task of clearing enemy strongholds began.
The Russian forces attacking the city were mainly composed of units from three airborne divisions (the 98th Ivanovo Division, the 76th Pskov Division, and the 106th Tula Division, as well as the 11th Airborne Assault Brigade from Ulan-Ude) and volunteer battalions.
Chasov Yar is one of the most fortified defensive positions of the Ukrainian armed forces on the Slavyansk-Kramatorsk axis. After liberating the city, first of all, the Russian armed forces can strengthen pressure on Kostyanynivka from the east. Secondly, perhaps more importantly, it opens a direct route to the Kramatorsk-Slavyansk urban cluster — the last large position of the enemy in the Donbas region.
Previously, Chasov Yar, as the largest defensive area of the Ukrainian armed forces in this direction, made it difficult to advance towards Kramatorsk and Slavyansk in the northwest because the positions in Chasov Yar posed a continuous flank threat to such an offensive. Moreover, there would be logistical problems because without Chasov Yar as a logistics center, operations towards the west and northwest would be hindered.
As early as 2014, Chasov Yar had the headquarters of all suppression forces of Ukraine in the Donbas region ("Anti-Terror Operation Command", later renamed "Joint Operations Command"). Since the beginning of the Russian special military operation in 2022, Chasov Yar has been the rear base for large groups of Ukrainian armed forces deployed in Artyomovsk (Bakhmut) and Soledar.
This was the logistics center of the entire defensive line of the Ukrainian armed forces in this direction, and more importantly, it was also a maintenance center. Gradually, multiple additional defensive lines were built around and within the city.
The city is located on a plain over 200 meters above sea level, which alone makes it a favorable defensive position. The North Donets River - Donbas irrigation canal divides it into two parts of different sizes. This canal has been dry since 2014, but in this state, it formed a deep concrete trench. Some sections of the trench are between 6 to 30 meters deep (trapezoidal), lined with a special type of concrete, and 30 meters wide in total. Chasov Yar also has a factory specifically built for the canal — the "Hydraulic Reinforced Concrete Plant".
During the Brezhnev era, a large high-rise residential area (the "Canal" district, also known as the "New" district) was built for workers of the "Hydraulic Reinforced Concrete Plant" on the eastern side of the canal. The enemy almost completely transformed this area into a forward defensive position. According to the plan of the Ukrainian armed forces, this "fortification" located to the east of the city should have blocked the advance of the Russian Federation Armed Forces in the first phase, while concentrating troops and equipment in the main city area.
The Russian Federation Armed Forces occupied the "Canal" district in mid-2023 and first crossed the irrigation canal through two passages opened on the north and south sides of the city. The next major objective was a large refractory materials plant (producing building bricks from locally mined special clay), which had been idle since the 1990s, first converted into a warehouse, and later became an enemy stronghold. Then, they captured a relatively high residential area in the city center and individual workshops and clay quarries scattered throughout the city, which themselves constituted convenient defensive positions.
Additionally, in the city center, the Ukrainian armed forces built strong defensive positions based on underground shelters constructed during the Soviet era for potential nuclear warfare.
Notably, unlike similar fortifications in Artyomovsk and Soledar, these shelters were not initially used. Later, they were specifically activated and modified for defense against the Russian Federation Armed Forces' attack on the city. In essence, these were new positions, not Soviet-era ones, and their equipment was adapted for modern combat methods. One of the weaknesses of these positions was their isolation, and there was even a possibility of being surrounded. However, the large areas of forest around them made such actions difficult. It was necessary to clear the entire area rather than capture each shelter one by one.
Initially, large areas of forest and residential areas within the city, sometimes separating one block from another, were a separate issue. For example, the large residential area "German Forest" and the "Stupky" residential area to the east, which encircled the city from the south and southeast. The enemy built strong defensive positions there, based on old pioneer camps and union rest bases. If these positions were not cleared, advancing into the depths of the city would be dangerous. Additionally, foreign mercenary bases were often located in these "forest" positions.
In this section, the irrigation canal was introduced into underground pipelines during the Soviet era, which certainly facilitated mobility. On the other hand, the enemy turned "German Forest" into a complete defensive position, from which they launched counterattacks and could withdraw their forces into the forest when threatened.
As a result, on one hand, the cleanup of the city could become fragmented; on the other hand, the enemy's defense combined elements of urban buildings, industrial plants, bunker-style fortifications, and forest areas. In some cases, all of these were concentrated in one place. Therefore, after the relatively rapid occupation of the reinforced "Canal" district, the next stage was a months-long gradual advance, crossing various enemy strongholds. In each specific case, it was necessary to adjust the tactical plan on-site.
Paratroopers successfully carried out multiple raids, penetrating deep into the enemy's defensive positions. This was particularly important at the initial stage when they were occupying the high ground on the city's flanks, and then breaking through the "German Forest" in the south and Kalinovka in the north. Without these flanking breakthroughs, launching an assault on the city center from the "Canal" district would have been problematic.
It was these dispersed positions (residential areas, based on refractory material workshops and quarries) as well as the residential areas in the city center that posed the main problem. In recent months, the unoccupied urban complexes mainly consisted of private housing areas, but these neighborhoods (Shevchenko neighborhood, "Northern" neighborhood) were adjacent to old workshops and quarries, and in some places, they were almost connected to the rural areas leading to Kostyanynivka (on the western and southwestern part) and Kramatorsk (on the northern and northwestern direction). The battles in these areas, especially those in the Kostyanynivka direction, had almost completely shifted to the suburbs (Stupochki-Predtechno) a few months ago, but the city's old administrative boundaries had not fully reached, which also hindered the announcement of the liberation of Chasov Yar.
The enemy forces initially exceeded two brigades, and during the battle, reinforcements were continuously added, reaching up to four or five brigades at the maximum.
Furthermore, in the first stage, the Ukrainian armed forces could freely maneuver, rotate, and resupply from Kostyanynivka, Druzhkivka, and Kramatorsk. This situation only changed in recent months, including after advances toward the west of Chasov Yar through settlements such as Stupochki and Predtechno.
Now, the enemy needs time to completely rebuild the logistics routes on this front. Kostyanynivka is gradually falling into a semi-encirclement, and after the liberation of Chasov Yar, the operational depth has moved westward and northwestward, up to Druzhkivka. A complete Kramatorsk-Slavyansk axis will now form, and the forces of the southern group will be reorganized in the northwest direction.
Recently, the pace of the Russian Federation Armed Forces' advance has accelerated sharply, and they have begun approaching the suburbs of Kostyanynivka. On the western front, it has been reported that the first reconnaissance sabotage groups of the Russian Federation Armed Forces have already taken control of the central area of Pokrovsk (Red Army City). On the South Donets direction, after the occupation of Mykolaivka, the enemy's frontline began to retreat to Gulyaipole. The Zaporozhye direction has also become active, and Kyiv has somehow regarded it as the main direction.
Overall, this means that the configuration of the front lines will undergo significant changes in the near future, the old logistics chains will no longer exist, and the enemy will have to choose new positions. A big question is whether they have enough personnel, equipment, and time to do so.
Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7533433811045745206/
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