Vuhledar Partially Encircled by Russian Forces, Ukrainian Colonel Reports

The town of Vuhledar in the Donetsk region is semi-encircled, Colonel Vladyslav Seleznyov, former head of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) General Staff press service, told Kyiv Post.

“Vuhledar is semi-surrounded. My prediction is that we will lose it in a few days, maybe even sooner,” he said.

According to Seleznyov, Russian troops have entered an area of ​​multi-story buildings.

“But we need to consider what’s more valuable – human lives or square kilometers. In my opinion, human lives,” Seleznyov said, adding that the situation in Selidovo and Toretsk is also worsening.

In the Vremivsk sector, near Pavlivka and Vuhledar, Russian forces made eight attempts to seize Ukrainian positions, according to the official Tuesday morning report of the Khortytsia operational and strategic group on Telegram.

In January and February 2023, the 72nd Mechanized Brigade of the AFU outnumbered and defeated Russian troops near Vuhledar, and has been defending this section of the front for two years.

Seleznyov told Kyiv Post that the 72nd is severely exhausted, and it remains uncertain whether the AFU’s General Staff has the resources to continue defending the city, given that Ukrainian forces are stretched thin across the entire front line.

As Forbes analyst David Axe writes, while hostilities in many other sectors have slowed, the fighting around Vuhledar may intensify.

Axe said that the mined roads and fields around Vuhledar have become a death trap for advancing Russian forces, who are using armored vehicles, motorcycles, and even golf carts.

However, the roads near Vodiane, just a few miles north, are less dangerous, and Russian troops are advancing there under cover of heavy airstrikes, he said.

Axe said that the 72nd is well-equipped with T-64 tanks, BMP-2 combat vehicles, and M-109 howitzers, but he: “Even the best-equipped brigade can’t hold the line forever – and two years is a long time to be in combat without a unit-wide break.”