A serviceman walks down a street, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, near the frontline town of Chasiv Yar in Donetsk region, Ukraine. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Russia said on Wednesday its forces had captured a district in the key hilltop town of Chasiv Yar near Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, where Moscow has been pressing for months.

The town, in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, has strategic importance and its capture could allow Russia to mount further offensives across the region.

Russia’s Defence Ministry said in a daily briefing that its troops had “liberated the ‘Novy’ district of Chasiv Yar”, a neighbourhood on the eastern edge of the town.

Russia’s capture of the area was also reported by Ukraine’s DeepState Telegram channel, which has links to Kyiv’s Army.

It said the district had been flattened by Russian bombardments, and that withdrawing was “a logical, albeit difficult decision.”

It was unclear if Russia was claiming that its forces had crossed a canal that runs through the eastern part of the town, a natural barrier that has aided Ukraine’s defence.

Chasiv Yar lies around 10 km west of Bakhmut, which Russian forces captured last year after months of artillery strikes and urban combat destroyed the city.