ISW: Russian forces advance around Vuhledar, towards Toretsk and southeast of Pokrovsk
Russian forces reportedly advanced within and around Vuhledar (southwest of Donetsk City), made little advancement in the direction of Toretsk and southeast of Pokrovsk, according to an analytical review by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
“(…) Russian forces reportedly advanced within and around Vuhledar (southwest of Donetsk City) amid continued offensive efforts to seize the settlement. Russian milbloggers claimed on September 24 and 25 that Russian forces captured 13 Desantnykiv Street in eastern Vuhledar and continued to advance on Vuhledar's western and eastern flanks, including advancing 1.5 kilometers on Vuhledar's eastern outskirts and two kilometers in depth along a four-kilometer-wide front north of Prechystivka (west of Vuhledar),” the ISW said in its reported posted on the website on Thursday.
Ukrainian military observer Kostiantyn Mashovets stated that elements of the Russian 39th Motorized Rifle Brigade (68th AC, Eastern Military District [EMD]) and 430th Motorized Rifle Regiment (likely a mobilized unit) seized the mine itself, advanced close to the eastern outskirts of Vuhledar, and also advanced north of the Kashlahash River west of Vuhledar from Prechsytivka-Pavlivka.
The ISW review notes, with reference to the Ukrainian military operating near Vuhledar, that the commander of a Ukrainian drone unit operating near Vuhledar stated that “Russian forces have stopped assaulting Vuhledar directly and instead are conducting simultaneous offensive operations on Vuhledar's flanks from Pavlivka, Prechystivka, and Vodiane.”
“Russian and some Western sources stated that elements of the Ukrainian garrison defending Vuhledar have begun to withdraw from the settlement, though Ukrainian officials have not commented on these claims and ISW cannot independently confirm such claims,” the Institute analysts said.