Symbolic and strategic defeat Loss of Wuhledar testifies to Ukrainian war dilemma

After fierce fighting, the defensive bastion of Wuhledar falls to the Russians. In the end, the Ukrainians had nothing left to oppose the enemy - partly because there was no promise from Washington.

With the withdrawal from Wuhledar, the Ukrainian military has lost an important bastion on the Donetsk front. This is unlikely to be decisive for the war, but it makes it clear that the government in Kiev is militarily weakened ahead of the next winter of war. Experts and observers also blame Ukraine's Western partners for this.

Over the summer, Ukraine has already had to cede thousands of square kilometers of territory to Russia on the eastern front. On Wednesday, it also confirmed the loss of Wuhledar. After more than two years of fierce defensive battles, the defeat is symbolically, but also strategically, particularly bitter.

Russian fighter jets had recently repeatedly dropped devastating glide bombs on the besieged city from the air, without the Ukrainian soldiers really being able to counter them. Ukraine would love to use US-made ATACMS missiles to attack air bases deep inside Russia in order to make such attacks more difficult for Moscow. But Kiev is not getting the green light for this from Washington, which fears a further escalation by the Kremlin.

Ukraine tickerZelensky calls for show of strength from Ukrainians in the fall

"Because we don't have as much as they do"

Over the past six to seven months, the Russians have been increasingly targeting Wuhledar from the north and south, while at the same time attacking it from the air without ceasing, said Arseniy Prylipka, press spokesman for the 72nd Brigade, which has been defending Wuhledar since August 2022. After attacks using electronic warfare, artillery, drones, glide bombs and numerous soldiers, the defenders had simply run out of resources. "Because we don't have as much as they do," said Prylipka.

Before the war, 14,000 people lived in Wuhledar. Hardly any of them remained under constant fire from the Russians. Prylipka had emphasized that his brigade would only leave the town when it was no longer possible to do otherwise. Now the time has come.

He and his comrades have never been relieved in recent years because the fierce fighting simply did not allow it. Many of their comrades-in-arms are now buried in Wuhledar. But they also inflicted heavy losses on the Russian troops.

Secret documents revealedPutin practiced nuclear war against Europe years ago

Not a decisive junction

From the defensive bastion on a hill, they had a good view of the open fields and passing roads and could quickly spot the advancing Russians. But that was not enough in the long run. "The Russians were looking for weak points in our defenses, constantly looking for ways to penetrate the city, and when they advanced, they tried to destroy the entire city," said Prylipka.

Now Russia has seized the strategically good position in Wuhledar. However, the city was not a crucial logistical hub for Ukraine, explained the US think tank Institute for the Study of War. Access to supply routes remains intact.

Far more important for Moscow in this context would be the capture of Pokrovsk, just 30 kilometers to the north. The loss of this city would really hit Kiev's war logistics and defensive positions on the front in the east hard.

"Satan II" explodes during launchPutin wants to replicate Ukraine missile and makes a mockery of himself

Hoping for concessions from Washington

But first the Russians would have to pass through nearby Kurakhove, said Ivan Tymochko from the Ukrainian Army Reserve Association. Only if they succeeded in driving the Ukrainian soldiers away from there would they be able to march on to Pokrovsk without risking an attack from the sides.

There, too, the defenders are unlikely to have any more to oppose the Russian glide bombs in the end than in Vuhledar - unless some of the red lines drawn by the US government for attacks on targets in Russia fall in the meantime.