Russian forces enter key eastern Ukrainian town of Toretsk

Russian forces have reached the outskirts of the long-contested strategic town of Toretsk in eastern Ukraine.

The Ukrainian military confirmed that fighting was taking place in the town late on Monday. Torestsk is the latest key location that Russian troops have reached in recent weeks as they advance Moscow’s bid to take control of the Donetsk region.

“The situation is unstable, fighting is taking place literally at every entrance (to the city),” Anastasiia Bobovnikova, spokesperson of the Operational Tactical Group “Luhansk” told Ukraine’s national broadcaster. “The Russians have entered the eastern outskirts of the city.”

Russian officials have yet to comment on the development.

Major step

A mining town close to the areas of Donetsk region captured by Russian-backed separatists in 2014, Toretsk has sat on the front line for a decade.

Moscow’s forces have been advancing towards the town since August, steadily winning surrounding villages with infantry aided by the increased use of highly destructive guided bombs.

Toretsk was previously home to more than 30,000 residents and reports suggest that thousands remain in the area.

Ukrainian military analysts warn that if Toretsk, which sits on elevated terrain, were to fall, Moscow could block Ukrainian supply routes to the front line.

Last week, Russian forces took full control of the strategic hilltop town of Vuhledar, a development that Moscow had long seen as a major step towards incorporating the entire Donetsk region.

Russia declared the annexation of four regions in eastern Ukraine – Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhia – in 2022, despite lacking full control of any of them.

Rapid advance

According to the Ukrainian general staff, heavy fighting has also been raging on the front between Pokrovsk and Kurakhove.

On Friday, Ukraine’s military said that its forces repelled 30 attacks on the Pokrovsk front over the previous day as Russian forces pushed towards the villages of Mykolaivka and Selydove.

With superior numbers and resources, Moscow’s troops have since August advanced at their fastest rate in more than two years, with little letup, despite Ukrainian forces mounting a surprise incursion into Russia’s Kursk region.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has ordered military leaders to do “everything that can be done” to minimise Moscow’s advance along the front line.

Kyiv has called for Western powers to supply more long-range weapons to help it stop Russian attacks and attempt to force peace, at what is seen as a crucial moment for the Ukraine war ahead of the US elections.

Leaders of Ukraine’s main allies, including US President Joe Biden, are set to meet at a US base in Ramstein, Germany on Saturday.