The Russian army has captured Vuhledar — the ‘fortress city’ of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, which was a crucial element of Ukraine’s entire defense in Donbas

Russian forces have captured the city of Vuhledar in the southwest of the Donetsk region.

Various Telegram channels report this development.

Fighting for this settlement in the middle of the steppe had been ongoing since the end of March 2022. At that time, parts of the Ukrainian Armed Forces entered the frontline city. Later, the Ukrainian defense, centered around the 72nd Mechanized Brigade, withstood several major assaults by Russian forces. However, in the fall of 2024, several hundred soldiers from the brigade who remained in Vuhledar (while others were attempting to hold the last road leading northwest from the city) were forced to abandon their positions under the threat of encirclement. The fall of one of the most well-known “fortresses” of the Ukrainian Armed Forces holds significant symbolic meaning. While the capture of the city does not pose an immediate threat to Ukraine’s defense in Donbas, in the long term, its loss could lead to serious consequences for Ukraine’s forces.

Initially, the city was an important stronghold protecting access to the logistical centers of defense in the southern part of Donbas, particularly the city of Kurakhove. Russian forces could have captured it back in March 2022, but they likely lacked the strength at the time. The vacant high-rise buildings were eventually occupied by advancing Ukrainian troops, who began mining the surrounding area and preparing the city for defense.

Without capturing Vuhledar, advancing from the south was impossible: the city is located on high ground and filled with tall buildings, giving visibility over many kilometers of the surrounding steppe. Additionally, Ukrainian observation posts and drone operators were stationed in the high-rise buildings of nearby mines. The basements of the high-rises and the mines provided reliable shelter for infantry.

By 2022, the Russian command had realized that the “fortress of Vuhledar” not only hindered the Russian offensive but also disrupted the logistics of Russian forces throughout southern Ukraine. To the east of Vuhledar runs the Donetsk-Volnovakha-Mariupol railway, which fell completely into Russian hands after the capture of these two cities and could have been used as an alternative route to supply the occupied south of Ukraine via Crimea. After the railway portion of the Crimean Bridge was damaged on October 8, 2022, this route became particularly important. However, it was impossible to restore the railway or reopen it, as the front was only 3-5 kilometers away to the east of Vuhledar. At that point, Russian forces began preparing for the capture of the city.

In the winter of 2022-2023, a powerful assault by units from the Eastern Military District, including two brigades of the Pacific Fleet’s Marine Corps, was repelled by Ukrainian forces. The Russian military suffered heavy losses, particularly the armored vehicles from motorized rifle units advancing through minefields, which were supposed to attack the flanks of the group. The marines, trying to reach Vuhledar’s southern outskirts through a residential area, did not receive flank support, leading to a breakdown in the supply of their forward units. After several weeks of fighting, the remnants of the assault groups were forced to retreat to their original positions in nearby villages, Nikolske and Pavlivka.

Following the failed assault, Russia solved the logistical issue by constructing a new railway from the Rostov region to Volnovakha within a year. Additionally, Russian troops advancing from Avdiivka reached the area north of Kurakhove in early autumn 2024 and are now preparing to attack this logistical center from various directions, though not yet from the southern, Vuhledar direction.

As a result, the real strategic significance of the “fortress of Vuhledar,” as understood in 2022 and 2023, has diminished. However, this does not mean that Russian forces cannot use the capture of the city in future operations.

The troops that defended Vuhledar and its northern approaches (the 72nd Mechanized and 79th Air Assault Brigades) are retreating to positions north of the city (from Bohoyavlenka to the outskirts of the Russian-occupied village of Kostyantynivka). There, they can once again employ their preferred tactic of targeting Russian forces attempting to cross kilometers of open steppe. The resilience of the defense depends on the condition of the Ukrainian troops, who have just suffered a defeat, were reluctant to abandon hopeless positions until the last moment, and were forced to retreat under Russian fire.

The situation is even worse to the west of the city, where relatively weak Ukrainian units are holding defenses near the Russian-occupied town of Prechystivka. Through their positions, Russian forces could launch an offensive on another “fortress”—Velyka Novosilka. Russian forces are already advancing on it from the south and may soon increase pressure from the east. Velyka Novosilka is an important fortified area on the border of the Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions, and its loss could sharply worsen the situation for Ukrainian forces in Zaporizhzhia.