Ukraine’s military to pull out of frontline town in Donetsk region

An aerial view of Vuhledar, the site of heavy fighting in the Donetsk region. Pic/AP

Ukrainian forces are withdrawing from the front-line town of Vuhledar, perched atop a tactically significant hill in eastern Ukraine, after more than two years of grinding battle, military officials said Wednesday.

Vuhledar, a town Ukrainian forces fought tooth and nail to keep, is the latest urban settlement to fall to the Russians. It follows a vicious summer campaign along the eastern front that saw Kyiv cede several thousand square kilometres of territory.

Ukraine's Khortytsia ground forces formation, which commands eastern regions including Donetsk, said in a statement posted on Telegram it was withdrawing troops from Vuhledar to "protect the military personnel and equipment."

"In an attempt to take control of the city at any cost, reserves were directed to carry out flanking attacks, which exhausted the defense of the units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. As a result of the enemy's actions, there arose a threat of encircling the city," the statement said.

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