According to reports, on Friday, the defense ministry said Russia’s forces captured Toretsk-a significant coal-mining city in eastern Ukraine, while Reuters had no independent verification, and authorities of Ukraine didn’t comment yet.
The city, with a population of about 30,000 before the war, Moscow uses the Soviet era nomenclature of Dzerzhinsk for it while Russia deems Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, to which the Toretsk falls, as a part of its land, a position Kyiv frowns upon as illegal.
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Military experts believe that the capture of Toretsk, located on high ground, would hinder the logistics of Ukrainian forces in the area. Furthermore, it would allow Russian troops to advance northwest toward Kostiantynivka, an important logistics center that leads to several other important cities.
Most of Toretsk’s residents have already left or been evacuated, and most parts of the city lie in ruins as a result of continuous fighting.
