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By Brendan Cole
Senior Reporter
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Russian forces have taken full control of the town of Vuhledar in Ukraine's Donetsk region, the Ukrainian military has said.
Pro-Russian military bloggers had reported earlier on Wednesday that the strategic town had fallen to Moscow, delivering a blow to Ukraine's forces in the east of the country. However, Russia has paid a high cost in troop losses, and does not mean that it will proceed with rapid gains.
"The higher command authorized a maneuver to withdraw units from Vuhledar to save personnel and military equipment, and take up a position for further operations," Ukraine's Khortytsia group of forces said in a statement. Newsweek has emailed the Russian and Ukrainian defense ministries for comment.
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For nearly two years, Ukraine's 72nd Mechanized Brigade had defended the town, which is key for Kyiv's defenses in the southern part of Donetsk region.
There had been numerous attacks in recent weeks as Russian forces attempted to encircle the town. Local authorities confirmed on Monday that Russian forces had entered but that fighting was ongoing.
Emil Kastehelmi, a military expert from the Finland-based OSINT analysis firm Black Bird Group, told Newsweek that smaller pockets of resistance can be still present in the northern parts of the town but "Vuhledar is not the most important of cities for the Ukrainians."
While the town has been an important fortress, blocking the enemy advance in the southeastern part of the Donetsk front, Kastehelmi said, "losing it doesn't have any immediate implications—it won't hurt the Ukrainian logistics, and there are prepared fortifications on many levels north of Vuhledar."
The town is about 30 miles southwest of occupied Donetsk and roughly 25 miles east of the administrative border with Zaporizhzhia Oblast.
Before the confirmation of Ukraine's retreat, the U.S.-based independent think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said on Tuesday that Kyiv's withdrawal suggested a larger contingent of its forces likely avoided a Russian encirclement that would have caused higher casualties.
Russian milbloggers have said that they do not expect the front line to collapse following Vuhledar's seizure.
"Capturing the town was an extremely slow and costly process for the Russians, and, after Vuhledar, there will be the same repetitive grind on fields and tree lines," Kastehelmi said.
"Due to political goals of capturing Donetsk, Vuhledar had to be taken, but it wasn't a strategically central point and likely won't make a very significant propaganda piece either, as it was not a smooth battle for the Russians either," he added.
Update 10/02/24, 8:50 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with further information and comment from Emil Kastehelmi.
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