The town in the eastern Donetsk region, once home to over 30,000, now has just 1,600 residents.
Russian forces have entered the eastern part of Toretsk in the Donetsk region, Ukrainian military command confirmed.
The spokesperson for the Operational Tactical Group Luhansk said that the situation in the town is “very unstable” and the “fights are taking place literally at every building entrance.”
The crowdsourced monitoring website DeepState indicates that settlements on the eastern outskirts of Toretsk — Pivnichne, Zalizne, Druzhba, and Pivdenne — are fully or almost completely in Russian hands.
The situation near Toretsk has been difficult for months, with the clashes on the town’s outskirts reported back in August.
But over the past month, Moscow has intensified its focus and its assaults on the town, and Russian forces have been advancing into Toretsk since late September, widely using highly destructive guided bombs.
The situation has also gotten increasingly difficult in eastern Ukraine — the primary target of the Kremlin’s all-out invasion — since the capture of Vuhledar less than a week ago.
Similar to Vuhledar, Toretsk has been a frontline town for more than 10 years due to it being close to Ukraine’s territories seized by Russia in 2014.
What would the capture of Toretsk mean?
With a population of over 30,000 before the full-scale invasion, Toretsk has been largely destroyed and devastated, with most of the buildings shattered and only about 1,600 residents staying in town after numerous evacuations.
If Russian forces manage to capture the town, it will help Moscow obstruct key Ukrainian logistics routes, connecting the operational rear and the combat zone.
The intensified Russian assaults also demonstrate Moscow’s superiority in personnel and materiel while Ukraine pleads for more weapons and support from its Western allies.
