According to Al Jazeera, Russian forces recently took control of an area in the strategically significant town of Chasiv Yar in the eastern Donetsk region, while the Ukrainian military claims that its army has withdrew from the neighbourhood.
The military declared on Thursday that "the enemy had entered," demolishing "defenders' positions," and endangering "the lives and wellbeing of our soldiers" after confirming that it had retreated from the town's Kanal neighbourhood.
“The command decided to retreat to better protected and prepared positions,” said a spokesperson for the Ukrainian military’s Khortytsia ground forces formation, reporting the withdrawal on state-run television.
The Novyi district, which is located west of the Siverskyi Donets-Donbas canal that passes through the town's eastern section, was allegedly taken over by Russian soldiers, according to a statement released by the ministry of defence on Wednesday.
For months, Russian soldiers have been focusing on Chasiv Yar, a military centre valued for its advantageous, high location.
The village is not far from west Bakhmut, which Russia took last year following a bloody ten-month conflict.
Cities like Kramatorsk and Sloviansk would be under danger, vital Ukrainian supply routes would be jeopardised, and Russia would get closer to its declared goal of annexing the entire Donetsk area if Chasiv Yar fell.
The 12,000 residents of the hilltop town had long since evacuated, their homes and municipal buildings burned by the more severe Russian attacks.
According to the military spokesman, Russia has launched about 130 glide bombs, conducted 44 ground assaults, and carried out nearly 1,300 strikes in the Chasiv Yar region in just the last week.
Donetsk, which has seen the most violence since Russian forces entered Ukraine in February 2022, is regarded by the Kremlin as being a part of Russia.
Parts of the industrial sector have been under the grip of separatist rebels backed by the Kremlin since 2014.
The military in Ukraine is on the defensive as a result of a months-long lapse in US military support, according to Ukrainian leaders in the region, who claim that their resources are still limited.
Ammunition supplies from the United States have begun to arrive, according to reports from the artillery brigade stationed at Chasiv Yar in June.
In other news, regional governor Serhiy Lysak tweeted on the messaging app Telegram on Thursday stating that seven persons were injured in the Ukrainian town of Nikopol in the Dnipropetrovsk area due to Russian shelling.
As previously reported by Lysak, Russian forces targeted locations close to Nikopol on Wednesday night and Thursday early using artillery and kamikaze drones, causing damage to four residential buildings, a gas pipeline, a power line, and infrastructure.
Governor Viacheslav Chaus of the northern Chernihiv area claimed that approximately 6,000 customers were left without energy after a Russian drone struck an infrastructure facility during the night.
In the Ukrainian city of Dnipro in the southeast, a Russian missile and drone strike on Wednesday left numerous people wounded and at least five dead.