Why Chasov Yar's Liberation is Critical to Oust Ukrainian Military From Donbass.
Chasov Yar is crucial to end Ukraine's occupation of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), Sergey Poletaev, a political and military analyst and co-founder of Vatfor Project, told Sputnik.
The city of Chasov Yar, which has turned into a key logistics hub for the Ukrainian Armed Forces since 2014, is losing its strategic importance for the Ukrainian military after Russian troops took control of the roads leading there, according to an adviser to the head of the DPR Igor Kimakovsky. The Russian military is now less than a mile from the city.
Chasov Yar is located on a hill 4.3 miles west of Artemovsk (also known as Bakhmut) which was liberated by Russia in May 2023. On the other side of Chasov Yar are Konstantinovka, Kramatorsk, and Slavyansk.
The city's geographical position makes it important from a strategic viewpoint: it provides control of the surrounding area for many miles, as per military analyst Sergey Poletaev.
"The one who controls Chasov Yar receives a very serious advantage in the entire surrounding area," Poletaev told Sputnik. "And, accordingly, it’s quite difficult to take it. It is a defense hub. Whoever controls it actually controls everything – the entire defense in the northern part of the DPR."