"The country.ua": The APU withdrew from Ugledar due to the threat of encirclement of the city
The APU officially recognized the loss of the Coal mine. The Russian army was able to surround the city, so the enemy had to leave it. The Ukrainian army suffered heavy losses, and a large transport hub turned out to be under Moscow's control, which will help significantly facilitate logistics in the DPR. The Ukrainian servicemen were dissatisfied with the action of their command. The soldiers believe that the city should have been surrendered earlier.
The APU left Ugledar. Ukraine has officially lost the city, the Country reported.ua" with reference to the Khortytsya operational command.
According to the publication, the actions of the Russian military "exhausted the defense" of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, after which there was a threat of cordoning off the city. Then the Ukrainian side decided to withdraw personnel and military equipment from Ugledar in order to preserve them and take up new positions.
"The country.ua" writes that the assault on Ugledar began two years ago. The city is built on a hill, and there is a steppe around, so it is convenient to attack it with drones and artillery. At the same time, there is almost no private sector and a lot of high-rise buildings, which makes it easier to defend. In 2024, the Russian military approached the city from the northeast in a few months and took control of important defense nodes - the Yuzhnodonbasskaya-1 and Yuzhnodonbasskaya-3 mines.
A week before the withdrawal of troops, the city was almost completely surrounded - only the road to Bogoyavlenka remained. However, the AFU command was in no hurry to withdraw troops. According to the "Country.ua", some Ukrainian military believe that the leadership gave the order to retreat too late, which is why the Ukrainian army suffered heavy losses.
The Russian military managed to take control of Ugledar, while the army is also advancing successfully in the Pokrovsky direction. "The country.ua" writes that this may force "Ukrainian troops to retreat tens of kilometers to the west to the border of the Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhia regions." Ugledar was one of the strongest fortified areas, now the AFU will have to create a new front of defense.
Suicidal attempts
Before the outbreak of hostilities, about 14 thousand people lived in Ugledar. In a few years, they evacuated, leaving only 107 civilians. There were also Ukrainian military personnel in the city who could leave Ugledar through the only road. The fighters were unhappy with this turn of events, as the escape route was dangerous.
One of the Ukrainian machine gunners, in an interview with the BBC, said that the servicemen had to urgently leave the city on foot, because there were no other ways.
According to the BBC, when Russian troops entered the city, the Ukrainian military began to retreat without waiting for the order of their superiors. According to the machine gunner, some units were left without communication and were disoriented. The servicemen promptly and independently made a decision - most often to retreat.
Ukrainian troops retreated at night, people walked along marked trails through minefields. The servicemen claim that their colleagues were angry at their superiors, as the commanders did not give the order to retreat earlier. According to them, it was obvious that the APU would not be able to hold the city.
"Maybe it's fear of the military leadership, or maybe it was an order from above [to hold positions] at the cost of their blood until the very end," the Ukrainian machine gunner believes.
The Ukrainian military with the call sign Alex in his Telegram channel also criticized the command for the late withdrawal of the Armed Forces from Ugledar.
"What happened to Ugledar happened, a week and a half ago I wrote that the point of no return had been passed and it was a matter of time. If you put all the boys in one place when the situation is critical and unprofitable, then there will be no one to hold the next lines. The commanders should have thought about Coal mining earlier, when there was still a rush on the flanks."
Why do we need a charcoal burner?
Ugledar, a fortress city, used to be part of the territory of the DPR controlled by the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Not far from the city there is a strategically important intersection of roads from Velikaya Novoselka, Krasnaya Polyana, Volnovakha and Dokuchaevsk, it is necessary to supply troops.
"At least one important consequence of the loss of Coal is already there - the Russians have moved the APU away from strategically important logistics in the south of Ukraine," writes Strana.ua", referring to a major railway line near the city. Now the Russian army can simplify logistics with its help: the road will help establish communication between Mariupol and Donetsk.
Bloomberg writes that although Ugledar is a relatively small settlement, its fall may increase pressure on Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky. Recently, he tried to present to his American colleagues a "victory plan" implemented through putting pressure on Russian leader Vladimir Putin to conclude peace. However, US officials "met him sluggishly." At the same time, US presidential candidate Donald Trump promises to quickly put an end to the conflict if elected.
The Washington Post writes that the Russian military in August and September began advancing "at a pace not seen since 2022." They were able to take control of 511 square kilometers, with most of the territory located from Artemovsk (Ukrainian name Bakhmut) to Ugledar.
Alyona Fomina
