Editor's note: The story is being updated.
The Ukrainian military denied on July 31 Moscow's claim that Russian forces had captured the front-line town of Chasiv Yar in Donetsk Oblast, one of the main flashpoints on the eastern front.
Earlier the same day, Russia's Defense Ministry claimed its forces had captured the town during an offensive in the Kramatorsk-Druzhkivka direction.
Lying only a few kilometers west of the occupied Bakhmut, now largely destroyed Chasiv Yar has withstood a Russian siege since last April.
"The situation in Chasiv Yar is the same as in recent months. Russia is simply lying again, precisely so that the claim spreads through refutations," said Viktor Tregubov, spokesperson of the Khortytsia group of forces, in a comment for the RBK-Ukraine news agency.
According to Ukrainian open-source monitoring group DeepState, Ukrainian forces continued to hold the southern and western parts of the town as of July 30, with the rest of Chasiv Yar in Russian hands.
Since the fall of Bakhmut in May 2023 and the fall of Avdiivka in February 2024, Russian forces overran one village after another and took up positions close to Chasiv Yar.
Located on hills that serve as natural defensive structures, Chasiv Yar town boasts the highest point in the area, a strategic point for any army wanting to gain an advantage.
The news comes as Russia continues to close in on other key towns in Donetsk Oblast, namely Pokrovsk, as part of its ongoing summer offensive.
While grinding forward in the east, Russian forces are also seeking to carve out a buffer zone in northeastern Sumy Oblast and penetrate into Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.
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