Russians Advance on Toretsk, Ukrainian Troops Battle on Town’s Approaches

Russian troops are advancing on Toretsk in the Donetsk region. Still, the Ukrainian Defense Forces are repulsing them near the outskirts of the city, Nazar Voloshyn, spokesperson for the Khortytsia operational and strategic group of troops, told Kyiv Post in a phone interview.

“The situation around the city of Toretsk is such that the Defense Forces control the situation. As of now, the enemy has not made any territorial gains, and there is no enemy Russian army in the city,” Voloshyn said.

According to him, active combat operations occur in this part of the front daily.

“Combats with the enemy are taking place on the approaches to the outskirts of the city,” the spokesman said.

Voloshyn stated that the Russians are trying to capture the city, regardless of the loss of personnel and equipment. He told Kyiv Post that the Russian troops are looking for weak points in the Ukrainian defense, deploying mobilized soldiers and former prisoners in the assaults.

“There are also Z storm and V storm units, which are used as assault units and often to identify positions or clear the territory,” Voloshyn said.

He added that Russian forces conduct many so-called “meat assaults” by mobile fire groups. Along with these assaults, the Russians shelled the town of Toretsk with various types of weapons.

Voloshyn told Kyiv Post that the Defense Forces continue to firmly hold their positions, wear down Russian forces, and inflict significant losses in manpower, weapons, and military equipment on Russian troops.

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“Our defenders continue to resolutely resist the enemy’s attempts to advance deep into the territory of Ukraine, directing their efforts to disrupt the occupiers’ offensive tasks,” he added.

According to the spokesman, in the past day in the Toretsk sector, Ukrainian troops repelled 16 Russian attacks in the areas of Toretsk, Pivnichne, Zalizne, and New York settlements in the Donetsk region.

“The occupiers supported their assault actions on the ground with airstrikes, which the enemy aircraft inflicted on civilian infrastructure and populated areas,” said Voloshyn.

Military-political expert Dmytro Snehiryov previously said on the TV channel Freedom that the Russian army is acting purposefully in the sector of Toretsk. According to him, the capture of the city could lead to the loss of an important logistics center by the Ukrainians.

As Snehiryov outlined, the activation of Russians in the Toretsk sector is not accidental. Among other things, Russian forces seek to stretch the reserves of the Ukrainian Armed Forces (AFU).

Toretsk is located approximately 10 km from Russian-occupied Horlivka.

“Toretsk is on strategic heights, as is Chasiv Yar,” Snehiryov said. “This means that control over Toretsk allows the AFU to keep the Horlivka agglomeration, which is the operational rear of the Russian Armed Forces, under fire control.”

He revealed that Toretsk is also a logistics center for Ukrainian forces, and therefore advancing on it and possible occupation will give the Russians certain advantages. For instance, the possibility of a flank attack on the AFU’s positions in the area of Chasiv Yar.

“This will also make it possible to control the logistical routes connecting the operational rear of the Armed Forces with the combat zone,” Snehiryov said.

In mid-June, several reports disclosed that Russian forces in the Donetsk region were approaching Chasiv Yar, a town perched on strategic heights.

In early July, the Suspilne Donbas media outlet cited Voloshyn, reporting that Russian forces began storming Chasiv Yar from the Toretsk sector with frontal attacks by small infantry groups.

Voloshyn later told Kyiv Post that Ukrainian forces hadwithdrawn from the Kanal micro-district in Chasiv Yar.

“The positions of the Ukrainian defenders were destroyed, and keeping personnel there was a threat to the lives of our soldiers,” he said.

He disclosed that Russians did not leave a single building intact; after the bombing and artillery shelling, the town looks like a “moonscape.” According to Voloshyn, the units of the AFU withdrew to more prepared and protected positions.

Analysts from the DeepState project reported that as of July 3, the Russian army had occupied the Kanal neighborhood in Chasiv Yar after destroying that part of the city. According to the report, staying in the ruins would only increase losses due to logistical problems, so leaving the neighborhood was a logical, though difficult, decision. It was beneficial to hold Kanal when Russian troops were advancing, as outlined by DeepState.