Russia storms strategically located town of Voehledar in Ukraine

This article was last updated on September 25, 2024

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Russia storms strategically located town of Voehledar in Ukraine

Russian troops have launched a major attack on the Ukrainian town of Voehledar, in the south of the Donbas region. The town is strategically important. Ukrainian troops have held out there since the start of the war but are now under heavy pressure.

Russian troops enter the town, images shared by Reuters news agency show. Voehledar is a small mining town, but an important defense point. The concern on the Ukrainian side is that if the army loses this foothold, a whole swath of the southern Donbas region will become more difficult to defend. Russia currently occupies 80 percent of the Donbas.

“Russian units have entered Voehledar, the storming of the city has begun,” reports Yuri Podoljaka, a pro-Russian military blogger. Several pro-Russian war bloggers confirmed the attack.

Russia has suffered major losses in recent years in previous attacks on Voehledar, which is a kind of fortress. Frontal attacks always failed, so Russia is now attacking the flanks. The Ukrainians are in danger of being surrounded. The trade-off is how long they will continue to defend and at what cost.

Shortages

Ukraine is facing a shortage of troops and equipment. This concerns, for example, air defense that is also needed at the front to keep tree throwers at bay. Therefore, they can do very little against Russian bombers dropping hover bombs, including on Voehledar.

In addition, Ukrainian commanders complain that arms deliveries from the West, especially ammunition, are not coming through quickly enough. This allows the Russians to advance further and fire more grenades.

The Russians have also learned from past mistakes. They have become more effective in attack, even if it comes with enormous losses, up to a thousand people (dead and wounded) per day according to British military intelligence.

The Ukrainian army has had more success in other places. For example, it was possible to stop a counter-offensive in Kursk, a Russian region that Ukraine invaded at the beginning of August. Russian troops also managed to push further out of the city of Vovchansk near Kharkiv.

‘Victory Plan’

President Zelensky is currently in the US for meetings with a series of world leaders. On the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, he spoke with the leaders of Germany, India and Japan. Today he will address the General Assembly.

Tomorrow, the Ukrainian leader will travel to Washington for a meeting with US President Biden. Zelensky wants to present Biden, as well as presidential candidates Harris and Trump, with his ‘victory plan’, a plan that should give Ukraine the clout to advance and force Russia to the negotiating table.

Zelensky told the UN Security Council yesterday that the war cannot be ended through negotiations alone and that Russia “must be forced into peace”.

A Kremlin spokesman today called that plan “a fatal mistake that will have consequences for Kyiv.”

Correspondent Christiaan Paauwe:

Zelensky’s main wish is to be able to freely deploy American long-range missiles against targets deep inside Russia. Washington does not yet allow this, but the White House has hinted that it is being considered.

Ukraine wants to attack Russian airfields, ammunition depots and supply routes to relieve pressure on troops at the front. They now do this with drones, but the American missiles could be much more effective.

It is not yet clear whether that green light will come, but as the situation around Voehledar shows, time is running out for Ukraine and this autumn could prove decisive for the front in the Donbas.”