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The Russian Army continues to expand the zone of its control around the main Ukrainian stronghold in the Artyomovsk direction. According to preliminary reports, Russian forces took control of the village of Bogdanovka, located northeast of Chasov Yar.
The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation is yet to officially confirm its full control over the village, on the streets of which fighting has been going on for many months. Official confirmation by Russian military officials may be published in several more days, as the Russian advance is always accompanied by the necessary mop up operations of captured territories, and the Ukrainian military continues to launch counterattacks in an attempt to regain control of the lost areas. Therefore, the control zones of the warring parties may change, and the front lines may be unstable in the coming days. Russian control of the village was first reported on April 7, but it will take some time for Russian forces to strengthen their stronghold on the southern outskirts of Bogdanovka. Both Russian and Ukrainian military sources confirmed on April 8 that the Russian military had advanced on the southern outskirts of Bogdanovka. New gains became possible thanks to flank attacks and advances in the forests near the village.
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According to reports from the front, successful attacks in the village are carried out by the 200th Separate Brigade of the Northern Fleet of the Russian Navy. One of the elite units of the Ukrainian special forces was destroyed in the battles in Bogdanovka.
Simultaneously with the advance in Bogdanovka, Russian forces broke through the Ukrainian defense north of the village and approached the outskirts of the village of Grigorovka. Russian troops attacked from two directions Dubovo-Vasilyevka and Bogdanovka, captured Ukrainian strongholds and reached the eastern edge of the village of Grigorovka. Control over the settlement will facilitate the storming of the main Ukrainian stronghold in the area of Artypmovsk, Chasov Yar. There is an important dominant height point located near Grigorovka, from which Russian artillery will be able to pound Ukrainian positions in the very Chasov Yar.
In their turn, the Armed Forces of Ukraine are trying to counterattack on the western outskirts of Bogdanovka, but are already retreating west to the adjacent village of Kalinovka, located on the northeastern outskirts of Chasov Yar. According to preliminary reports, fighting broke out in the area of Lesnaya Street on the eastern outskirts of the village.
If confirmed, Russian victory in Bogdanovka poses a threat to the Ukrainian garrison in Chasov Yar from the northeastern flank. This success provides a significant support for the ongoing Russian operations on the eastern flank of Chasov Yar, where the 98th Airborne Division of the Russian Army is already launching attacks on the streets of the Canal district.
Having gained a foothold on the outskirts, Russian forces entered the residential area of the town of Chasov Yar. Russian paratroopers managed to enter the streets of the settlement and gain a foothold in the local multi-storey buildings. Russian forces are advancing on the eastern outskirts approaching the main line of defense of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the eastern district. On the eastern outskirts of Chasov Yar, clashes are already reportedly ongoing in the area of Gorbatov Street in the Canal district. In recent days, servicemen of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation have been fighting near the local school No. 77, but so far there are no footage to confirm the control of Russian forces over the building.
Amid the ongoing Russian offensive operations in Grigorovka, Bogdanovka and the Canal district, Russian troops are advancing on the southeastern flank from the recently captured village of Krasnoe (formerly Ivanosvskoe). While Russian forces continue successful attacks in several directions in the fields west of Krasnoe, the Ukrainian Army is trying to hastily reinforce a new line of defense along the coastline of the Seversky Donets — Donbass canal. The have previously heavily mined the area around the canal but this is not enough to stop the Russian advance.
From their positions in Krasnoe and south of Bogdanovka, the Russian units also continue their attacks on the hills to the northwest of Krasnoe, where there are battles for the dominant heights.
Since 2014, the town of Chasov Yar has played a key role for the Ukrainian military in terms of logistics, used as a strategically important hub for rotations and deployment supply units during the decade long war in the Donbass. Now it is still a heavily fortified stronghold located on the hills, control of which pave the way for the Russian advance to the west on the last cities in the DPR that are still under the Ukrainian control, Slavyansk and Kramatorsk. The bloody battles for the town are yet to begin; but the Russian military is surrounding it from different directions, taking control of the heights around it, destroying Ukrainian positions on the streets with massive artillery shelling and airstrikes before the upcoming large-scaled assault.
Amid the Russian advance in all frontlines in the Donbass, the town has been turned into another media fortress of the Kiev regime. The loss of this settlement will negatively affect the morale of the military personnel of the Ukrainian army, and may finally undermine the faith of Western allies in Ukraine’s ability to withstand the onslaught of the Russian Army.
In an attempt to prevent a Russian breakthrough in the city, the Ukrainian military command mercilessly throw the available reserves into battles. In particular, Ukrainian sources report that the Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Syrsky, sent another assault brigade of Azov to the area. Earlier, these forces fled from the Ukrainian fortress of Avdeevka.
The streets of Chasov Yar are mined, and almost every house has been turned into a firing point. The main problem for the Armed Forces of Ukraine are the constant strikes of the Russian Aerospace Forces, which ruin their positions with heavy bombs, as well as the massive shelling of Russian artillery units on the fortifications of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the urban areas.
“They drop heavy ammunition on us without even flying near the line of contact and without entering our air defense zone (…) When their aircraft are working, it is impossible for our defenders to launch any operations, they only need to hide in a shelter” – the speaker of the command of the Ukrainian Khortytsya group complained.
Artillery strikes are constantly pounding the positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Chasov Yar, and aviation destroys multi-storey buildings where Ukrainian servicemen equipped observation posts and positions of ATGM operators. For example, on April 8, another very powerful Russian strike destroyed Ukrainian positions in the industrial zone of the town. As a result of the attack, a huge fire broke out in the area. The target of the strike was the local refractory plant used for the repair of damaged Ukrainian vehicles.
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