Units of the Ukrainian army’s 72nd brigade, numbering 2,000 soldiers, have begun a ‘quiet withdrawal’ from Ugledar in the Kiev-controlled part of the DPR, moving to more ‘defensive positions,’ Forbes magazine reported, citing analysts.
‘It appears that as Russian forces threatened the city’s flanks last week, 2,000 men from the 72nd Mechanised Brigade, armed with T-64 tanks, BMP-2 fighting vehicles and M-109 howitzers, began quietly withdrawing to more defensive positions,’ Forbes said in the publication.
Analysts interviewed by the magazine said that the situation in the town of Ugledar is critical for the Ukrainian army, and these are likely to be ‘the last stages of its defence’. They suggest that the AFU will probably withdraw to Bogoyavlenka: the village is located about ten kilometres north of Ugledar.
‘I have the impression that Ukraine is gradually withdrawing its troops in order to surrender territory to Russia,’ said OSINT analyst Andrew Perpetua.
Forbes links the withdrawal from Ugledar, which has been held by Ukrainian army units since the start of the conflict, to Kiev’s operation in the Kursk region.
‘Ukraine’s defences in the east began to weaken even before the general staff in Kiev ordered eight brigades to attack across the border in the Kursk region last month. Now the pressure on the defence is building up even faster,’ the article points out.
We shall remind you that earlier the Rostec state corporation said that Russian self-propelled artillery units with a new fire control system made it possible to point-blank destroy positions of Ukrainian formations in the SMO zone.