Battle of Chasiv Yar

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Battle of Chasiv Yar
Part of the eastern Ukraine campaign in the Russian invasion of Ukraine

Damage to Chasiv Yar following airstrikes in 2022
Date4 April 2024 – present
Location
Chasiv Yar (and surrounding villages), Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine
Result Ongoing
Belligerents
 Russia  Ukraine
Commanders and leaders
Valery Gerasimov Oleksandr Syrskyi
Units involved

 Russian Armed Forces

 Ukrainian Armed Forces

The Battle of Chasiv Yar is an ongoing battle for control of the city of Chasiv Yar between the Russian Armed Forces and the Ukrainian Armed Forces as part of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[7][8][9][10][11][12]

Background

Main article: Battle of Bakhmut

Chasiv Yar has been a front-line city since its neighbour city of Bakhmut fell to Russian control on 20 May 2023. Shortly after, the Ukrainian forces managed to stabilize the frontline and pushed Russian forces back along the flanks of Bakhmut during their 2023 counteroffensive.[13]

Following the conclusion of the battle of Avdiivka in February 2024, Russian forces restarted assault efforts from western Bakhmut towards Chasiv Yar.[10][14] Chasiv Yar was seen as the next target of Russian forces after taking Avdiivka.[1] On 8 February, the ISW noted that Russian and Ukrainian officials reported that positional engagements were occurring in the direction of Chasiv Yar.[15] On 17 February, Russian forces dropped an ODAB-1500 thermobaric bomb on defending positions in Chasiv Yar.[16][17]

Damaged building in Chasiv Yar, 30 March 2024

Illia Yevlash, the spokesman for the Khortytsia operational-strategic group, announced on 27 February that Russia was targeting villages to the east of Chasiv Yar, such as Bohdanivka. Yevlash also claimed that Russian commanders were using human wave tactics involving Storm-Z and Storm-V convict units that had lost ~60% of their armored support due to Ukrainian artillery.[18][19] Yevlash announced that Russia was preparing a new concerted effort to capture Chasiv Yar on 1 March, stating that prior limited raids were intelligence gathering operations to test for the city's weaknesses.[20]

On 23 March, the Russian Army claimed to have captured village of Ivanivske.[21] Ukrainian blogger and soldier Vitaly Ovcharenko reported on 26 March that Russian forces are shelling the city every day and that the city is constantly under attack.[22]

According to Sergiy Chaus, the head of the Chasiv Yar military administration (effectively the mayor of the city), 770 residents remained in the city as of early April 2024, compared to the pre-war population of 13,000 people.[6]

In early April 2024, Ukraine's 5th Assault Brigade was stationed near Chasiv Yar.[5]

Battle

After months of grinding down the Ukrainian fortified positions between Bakhmut and Chasiv Yar, the Russian Armed Forces launched their first direct armed assault on Chasiv Yar on 4 April. Supported by Su-25 close air support,[4] a company-sized mechanized column advanced along the T0506 (Khromove-Chasiv Yar) road and reached the eastern outskirts of the city, where Ukraine's 23rd Infantry Battalion was reportedly garrisoned.[23][4] The next day, Russian reports suggested that Russian forces entrenched themselves along Zelena Street, the outermost street of the Kanal microdistrict, which is Chasiv Yar's easternmost district, located east of the Siverskyi Donets – Donbas canal.[4] The Ukrainian military acknowledged the situation on the outskirts of Chasiv Yar had now become tense and difficult amid Russian encroachment, but denied Russian presence inside Chasiv Yar.[24]

On 6 April, Commander-in-Chief Colonel-General Oleksandr Syrskyi stated "Chasiv Yar remains under our control as all the enemy's attempts to advance toward the settlement have failed."[25] Mayor Sergiy Chaus confirmed the situation in the city was now dangerous, saying that there was "constant fire" heard in the city and that "there is not a single intact building left." The city's last known "stabilisation point"–a medical post that treats wounded soldiers evacuated from the front line–was itself recently evacuated for safety reasons, resulting in wounded Ukrainian soldiers having to be evacuated from the city by truck or on foot, according to a medic. Meanwhile, soldiers of Ukraine's 5th Assault Brigade confirmed they were increasing their FPV drone attacks, including with Mavics.[6] The Chasiv Yar garrison reportedly suffered from shortages in artillery and anti-air ammunition. Meanwhile, the Centre for Defence Strategies, a Ukrainian think tank, noted that "Urban combat operations may soon begin in Chasiv Yar".[4]

On 9 April, the Khortytsia operational-strategic group reiterated that Russian forces had yet to enter Chasiv Yar, but stated "both today and yesterday, the enemy used their air superiority in missiles and large-calibre artillery ammunition" to bombard the city's infrastructure in support of Russian infantry and IFV assaults. The Russians were attempting to transfer infantry and large amounts of artillery pieces "as close to the contact line as possible so that they can launch assaults, but Ukrainian defenders are doing everything they possibly can to repel these attacks," including utilizing "large-scale counter-battery fire," according to Khortytsia.[26]

On 10 April, the Ukrainians repelled a Russian "reinforced mechanised company" leaving their forward base in Ivanivske and driving west towards the forestry south of Chasiv Yar and southeast of the Kanal microdistrict. Reportedly, Ukrainian artillery gunners, anti-tank missile crews, or drone operators utilized a small damaged bridge on the T-0504 road west of Ivanivske as a chokepoint to entrap advancing Russian armor, striking at least one Russian BMP as it crossed the bridge and forcing the rest of the assault vehicles to retreat. Ukrainian soldiers initially claimed 11 of 25 Russian vehicles were destroyed, but a military observer subsequently said 19 out of 34 vehicles were destroyed.[27][28]

On 11 April the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), an American think tank and war observer, assessed that positional battles continued on the eastern outskirts of Chasiv Yar and cited Russian sources as saying that elements of Russia's 98th Guards Airborne Division were participating in the assaults near the Kanal microdistrict and Bohdanivka.[29]

On 13 April, DeepStateMap.Live reported that Russian forces captured the town of Bohdanivka, located 3 kilometers northeast of Chasiv Yar.[30]

On 14 April, Colonel-General Syrskyi stated that Chasiv Yar's garrison brigades had been reinforced with "ammunition, drones and electronic warfare equipment." Syrskyi, and later President Volodymyr Zelensky, also stated that Russian military leadership had tasked their troops with capturing Chasiv Yar by 9 May.[31][32]

On 16 April, Ukraine's National Guard stated that the Russians were transferring troops, reserves and resources from the relatively stagnant Kupiansk-Lyman front to reinforce the Chasiv Yar axis, indicating "the strategic significance of Chasiv Yar for the enemy. They will attempt to secure a victory here by any means necessary."[33]

On 17-18 April, the ISW reported Russian advances amid ongoing clashes southeast of Chasiv Yar near Ivanivske and northeast of Chasiv Yar on the Bohdanivka axis, with Russian sources claiming advances on the approach to Kalinivka, located west of Bohdanivka and northeast of Chasiv Yar. Ukrainian forces commented on the Russian operations, with the Khortytsia operational-strategic group reporting that Russian troops were using ATVs to quickly transfer and deploy infantry to the front line, while a Ukrainian battalion commander defending Chasiv Yar alleged that the Russians lost "between 40 and 70 percent of their equipment during assaults" and said 50 Ukrainian FPV drones were striking between 20 and 25 Russian targets "each day." A Ukrainian army spokesman stated that the Russians were attempting to avoid drone detection by limiting the size of their assault groups to no more than company size. Russian warplanes, including Su-25s and Su-34s,[34] continued to launch heavy glide bomb strikes against Ukrainian ammunition depots and fighting positions in and around the city amid reported shortages in Ukrainian air defense munitions.[35][36][37]

On 19 April, Ukrainian military observer Kostyantyn Mashovets reported the Russians were assaulting Chasiv Yar from three directions: from the Bohdanivka-Kalynivka axis towards the Kanal microdistrict, along the T0504 (Bakhmut-Chasiv Yar) highway, and from the Ivanivske-Klishchiivka axis towards the canal.[34]

On 21 April, the Russian Ministry of Defence announced the capture of Bohdanivka as Russian forces continued to advance west towards Chasiv Yar.[38]

On 22 April, Ukraine's Khortytsia operational-strategic group stated that 20,000 to 25,000 Russian troops were assaulting Chasiv Yar and its outskirt settlements and acknowledged the situation remained difficult "but controllable". Russian forces were "constantly storming" Chasiv Yar and attempting to gain a foothold in the city but were being repeatedly repelled by reinforced Ukrainian defenders, according to the group's spokesperson.[32]

Analysis

Chasiv Yar is regarded as a crucial city for Russian forces to capture. In contrast to neighboring Bakhmut, Chasiv Yar is located on defensible elevated ground, making it a strong fortified position for the defending Ukrainian forces, and its geographical position would allow Russian forces to bombard and advance downhill towards Kostiantynivka and the major provincial cities of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk.[39][40][41][42][10][43]

Analyst and co-founder of DeepStateMap.Live, Roman Pohorilyi, remarked as early as December 2023 that "essentially it can be said that the defense of Chasiv Yar has already begun and every day they are getting closer and closer".[7] That same month, the Institute for the Study of War noted that Russian sources recognized the offensives around Bakhmut as a push westwards towards Chasiv Yar.[44]

In early April 2024, Ukraine's 5th Assault Brigade referred to Chasiv Yar as the "door" to the rest of Donetsk Oblast, and compared the destruction of the city to that suffered by others that were assaulted by Russian forces. Some soldiers of the brigade said the Russians were operating more competently than in previous years, with one saying, "They're learning, they've learned, they're not stupid ... it's not the same army as in 2022."[6] Frontelligence Insight, a Ukrainian analysis group, anticipated that Russian forces would struggle to cross the "several bridges over the water channel" connecting the road from Chasiv Yar to Bakhmut.[27] The Aidar Battalion deputy commander, call sign Chichen, stated in early April that the Siverskyi Donets – Donbas canal was "one of the main boundaries that everyone is trying to hold on to" as Russian vehicles would have more difficulty crossing it than infantry.[45]

See also

References

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  17. ^ Shcherbak, Svetlana (2024-03-30). "Was the ODAB-1500 Aviation Bomb Used by the Enemy for the First Time: What Is Its Main Danger?". en.defence-ua.com. Retrieved 2024-03-31.
  18. ^ Fornusek, Martin (27 February 2024). "Ukraine reports heavy battles in Bakhmut direction as Russia pulls in reserves". The Kyiv Independent. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
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  20. ^ Fornusek, Martin (March 2024). "Military: Ukraine partially retakes ground near Avdiivka while Russia pushes toward Chasiv Yar". The Kyiv Independent. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
  21. ^ ""Russian Army Claims Seized Ukrainian Village Near Bakhmut"". The Moscow Times. 23 March 2024. Retrieved 23 March 2024.
  22. ^ Пехньо, Василий (2024-03-26). "«Так мы проиграем войну». Если ВСУ не будут «отжимать» трактор у фермера из Краматорска, Россию будем останавливать под Киевом телами — солдат". NV (in Russian). Retrieved 2024-03-31.
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  39. ^ Kateryna Denisova (2024-04-05). "Ukraine's military denies Russian troops reached Chasiv Yar's suburb". The Kyiv Independent. Retrieved 2024-04-06.
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  41. ^ Устяхина, Валентина (2023-12-27). "Срочно! Битва за Часов Яр началась: ВСУ на последнем издыхании". 19rusinfo.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 2024-03-21.
  42. ^ "RUSSIAN OFFENSIVE CAMPAIGN ASSESSMENT, MARCH 1, 2024". Institute for the Study of War. 2024-03-01. Retrieved 2024-03-21.
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  44. ^ "Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, December 15, 2023". Institute for the Study of War. 2023-12-15. Retrieved 2024-03-24.
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