How the Ukrainian town of Chasov Yar became the gates of hell (VIDEO)

After the occupation of Avdievka at the end of winter, the Kremlin seems to have already identified a new goal in the Donbass. This is the town of Chasov Yar, which this spring became the main arena for the battle.

Winter 2021. There is still a year before a full-scale war between Russia and Ukraine. But Chasov Yar is already filled with military personnel.

Here, far from the densely populated area of ​​Soviet five-story buildings and industrial enterprises, the headquarters of the Joint Forces Operation (as the Anti-Terrorist Operation was previously called) is located.

This circumstance turned an ordinary Donbass town into a powerful fortified area, a “fortress” of the Ukrainian army.

Now, in the spring of 2024, Russian troops are close to Chasov Yar and are destroying it with airstrikes.

According to the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Alexander Syrsky, Russia has set a goal to capture this city before its sacred date, May 9 – Victory Day.

If one of the commanders of the past wanted to build a fortress in the Donbass steppes, then there would be no better place than Chasov Yar.

This is the highest point for hundreds of kilometers around. The city stands on hills, which, like defensive walls, protect it from the east and south.

The highest point here is 247 meters. For example, in neighboring Konstantinovka, Druzhkovka, Slavyansk and Kramatorsk, average heights range from 100 to 125 meters.

After the Russian occupation of Donetsk in 2014, the agglomeration of these cities actually became the administrative center of the Ukrainian-controlled part of the Donetsk region. Industrial enterprises developed here and there was an extensive transport hub, including a railway one.

Chasov Yar became the “gateway” to this agglomeration – due to its proximity to Konstantinovka (7 km to the west) and Kramatorsk (25 km to the northwest).

About 13 thousand residents lived here, but as of early April, regarding 700 remained, the head of the city, Sergei Chaus, told the BBC Ukrainian Service. Of these, 80-85% are elderly people who refuse to evacuate.

“The main argument they use is ‘this is my home, I was born here and I will die here, if they kill me, they will kill me,’” explains the head of the city military administration.

Since February 2023, there has been no gas or water supply in Chasov Yar, no electricity and poor mobile communications. The daily life of the local residents who remain here is ensured only thanks to generators and water from wells.

All high-rise buildings in Chasov Yar have some kind of damage from shelling, of which 80% are critical, Chaus points out.

In addition to its dominant topography, Chasov Yar also has a water barrier – the Seversky Donets – Donbass canal flows on the eastern outskirts.

During the battle for Bakhmut last year, this area was the operational rear for the Ukrainian group, which fought with the enemy in the Bakhmut direction. However, since the beginning of this year the situation has changed.

Back in the winter, Russia created a powerful group – mainly from the forces of airborne troops – and began moving towards Chasov Yar from neighboring Bakhmut. Despite the assurances of the Ukrainian General Staff that “several defense lines have been created there,” by the beginning of April the Russian army was able to get close to the eastern outskirts of the city from the villages of Bogdanovka and Ivanovskoye.

Both of these villages were not completely captured, but the Russians managed to find a gap between them and wedge themselves into the Ukrainian defenses.

It is important that the hills and most of the buildings of Chasov Yar are located on the western bank of the canal. And only the new microdistrict, which is called “Canal”, is located in the east.

City authorities say that this microdistrict is under constant shelling and there is not a single civilian left there.

“It is impossible for a civilian to survive on the Channel. There is constant shelling there. The artillery (artillery – BBC) is not silent there, plus the arrivals of KABs plus FPV drones,” says Sergei Chaus.

It was in this microdistrict, on the extreme Zelenaya Street, that a group of Russian military men managed to enter in early April. The Ukrainian command claims that they have already been knocked out, Russian sources claim the opposite.

Ukrainian soldiers defending the city claim that the Russians often use “banzai attacks” – they try to quickly break through to the target in a small column of armored vehicles or other vehicles. Most of them are destroyed, but those who survived are trying to cling to the position.

As of mid-April, there is no visual confirmation that the Russians continue to be within the village of Chasov Yar.

However, this does not mean that the situation in this area has improved for the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

How did it happen that Russian troops were able to get close to a strategically important city?

At the end of autumn last year, Russia began moving west from occupied Bakhmut and was able to capture the village of Khrovoye, which is located on the way to Chasov Yar. Subsequently, both sides became bogged down in bloody battles for the neighboring villages of Bogdanovka (2 km northeast of Chasov Yar) and Ivanovskoye (3 km southeast).

As for the latter, the Russian authorities announced at the end of March that they had taken control of this village, which they call by its old Soviet name – Krasnoe. However, the Ukrainian military denies this.

Despite this, the Russian army found an opportunity to break through between these villages through fields and forest plantations.

According to sources of the Ukrainian BBC service among the military, this breakthrough was not least due to the unsuccessful actions of the 67th separate mechanized brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, which defended the sector.

This military unit was created in 2022 on the basis of the organization “Volunteer Ukrainian Corps “Right Sector”. It was the DUK PS volunteers who were its basis.

At the same time, according to the Ukrainian BBC service, which is also confirmed by the sources of the Ukrayinska Pravda publication, in the 67th brigade, misunderstandings arose between Right Sector volunteers and ordinary mobilized ones.

This led to the fact that the latter were sent to hold difficult sectors of the front without proper training. As the Russian offensive intensified, some soldiers of the 67th brigade might not stand it and abandoned their positions.

This situation caused condemnation from the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. As stated in the statement of the Ukrainian Volunteer Corps, the high command of the Armed Forces began “reformatting the brigade” – in particular, transferring to other military units all the commanders and fighters of the DUK PS, who serve as its combat backbone.

“Internal investigations have been opened once morest the unit commanders, and it is possible that criminal proceedings will be opened on trumped-up charges of failure to comply with combat orders,” the brigade said in a statement.

On April 16, the command of the Ground Forces confirmed the decision to reorganize the 67th brigade, including by separating the assault battalion into a separate unit.

“The consequences of the loss of positions by one of our units and the exposure of the flanks of other brigades and battalions are calculated in lost human lives, a change in the situation not in favor of the Ukrainian Armed Forces,” the command statement said.

However, this is not the main problem in the defense of Chasov Yar. Russian forces are struggling to seize the moment while they have significant advantages in manpower, aircraft and ammunition.

Ukrainian authorities talk regarding a ratio of 1 to 10 for artillery ammunition in favor of Russia. The advantage in aviation allows the Russians to drop 20-30 guided aerial bombs on Chasov Yar every day.

They destroy houses, industrial facilities, as well as fortifications of the Armed Forces of Ukraine both in the city itself and on the approaches to it.

What is Russia planning?

A plain opens up in the yard, there is a steppe and open terrain,” military analyst and historian Mikhail Zhirokhov told the BBC Ukrainian Service.

If the Russian army is able to capture Chasov Yar, then it will have the entire Kramatorsk-Slavic agglomeration “at a glance.” This will allow the long-range artillery of the Russian Federation to take fire control over the logistics routes of the Ukrainian army.

First of all, we are talking regarding railway junctions in Konstantinovka and Kramatorsk.

At the same time, according to Zhirokhov, to the west of Chasov Yar, the Ukrainian military is rapidly building two fortification lines to complicate the further advance of the enemy.

But, according to the analyst, Russia does not intend to directly storm the city, but will try to bypass it from the south and north. Now Russian units are approaching the flanks of the water barrier – the Seversky Donets-Donbass canal.

“If they make the same progress as we have seen in the last two or three weeks, then this (crossing the canal) is almost inevitable,” says Zhirokhov.

If the Russians manage to advance on the flanks, the Ukrainian garrison in Chasovoy Yar will be forced to retreat from the city so as not to be trapped.

Military analyst of the Information Resistance group Konstantin Mashovets believes that Russia is now carrying out “formative operations,” that is, simultaneously forming the southern and northern fronts (fortified areas from where the subsequent offensive is planned – BBC) for subsequently carrying out a large offensive on Kramatorsk and Slavyansk.

The northern face is formed in the direction of the cities of Liman and Yampol, the southern – near Chasov Yar and Konstantinovka. At the same time, he notes that for the final operation to encircle Kramatorsk and Slavyansk, the Russian army will need significantly more forces than are currently operating in this area.

“They are creating the preconditions for organizing a big offensive,” the analyst said. “But here the enemy will need more troops, and significantly more.”

In addition, according to Mashovets, the Russian army, advancing towards Chasov Yar, risks not resolving issues around two neighboring villages – Kleshcheevka and Andreevka (these are two settlements south of Bakhmut and 10-12 km southeast of Chasov Yar , Ukrainian forces liberated them last summer during a counter-offensive and are still holding them).

“That group [россиян]which is now advancing on Chasov Yar and is trying to break into the city, obviously runs the risk of receiving some kind of counter-action on its left flank [от ВСУ]”, says Mashovets.

The head of the Main Intelligence Directorate, Kirill Budanov, believes that Moscow is planning a “big offensive” in the Donbass in early summer. He is confident that following Chasov Yar, the Russians want to move towards Pokrovsk, located 55 km to the west. This is a key transport hub on the border of Donetsk and Dnepropetrovsk regions.

“They [российские военные] Let’s move a little towards Chasov Yar. They will move in the direction of the city of Pokrovsk, the strategic direction of Pokrovsk,” said the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate in an interview with the German television channel ARD.

But will the Kremlin have time to solve the first problem and take Chasov Yar before May 9?

Mikhail Zhirokhov says the main factor will be whether the Russian army can soon cross the Seversky Donets-Donbass canal (its width is regarding 30 meters) and create a bridgehead on the western bank.

“If this happens, it will indicate that [удерживать Часов Яр] Not long left”.

The Ukrainian Armed Forces assure that as of mid-April the situation in this area is complex, but controllable.

“As a resident of this city in my soul, I hope that we will stand and that our enemies will never reach us,” answers the head of Chasov Yar, Sergei Chaus, when asked regarding further developments.



Destruction is everywhere in Clock Yar.