Too early to be pessimistic about Ukraine’s withdrawal from Chasiv Yar - military expert

Serhiy Zgurets shared his opinions with Espreso TV.

"The Russians have concentrated a certain amount of forces in the Chasiv Yar area. The enemy's tactics are based on the use of aviation, which completely destroyed the buildings in the Kanal neighborhood. After that, Ukrainian troops withdrew, realizing that there was no point in holding this area. Now the defense line of Chasiv Yar will run along the Siverskyi Donets-Donbas Canal. This canal can be crossed only in two areas, near Bohdanivka, Kalynivka and from Ivanivske," explained Zgurets.

According to the military expert, the Siverskyi Donets-Donbas canal is an artificial obstacle. Currently, there is no water there, but the width of the canal does not allow for the movement of equipment.

"However, there are two stretches of one kilometer or 700 meters in the Kalynivka area and in the Stupochky area where you can move along the ground. It is there that the Russians are now concentrating forces after entering the completely destroyed Kanal neighborhood. How long Ukrainian troops will be able to hold these defense lines and Chasiv Yar is a rather complicated question. The enemy started storming Chasiv Yar in April and managed to destroy one neighborhood in a few months, which is the basis for further fighting," noted Zgurets.

He also added that Chasiv Yar can be held further.

"The pace of the Russian troops' advance due to the tactics of erasing the defenses is not fast. It is unlikely that we should draw pessimistic conclusions that Ukrainian troops will withdraw from Chasiv Yar in the near future, there are no prerequisites for this," emphasized Zgurets.

• Oleksiy Hetman, a veteran and reserve major of Ukraine's National Guard, notes that Russian troops had moved a large amount of manpower and equipment to Chasiv Yar.
• Soldiers of the 24th Separate Mechanized Brigade named after King Danylo continue to defend the town of Chasiv Yar, Donetsk region, from significantly superior Russian forces in extremely difficult conditions.