Explainer-What is the significance of Russia's claimed capture of Ukrainian town Chasiv Yar?

By Andrew Osborn

MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russia said on Thursday it had taken full control of the shattered town of Chasiv Yar in eastern Ukraine after nearly 16 months of fighting, an assertion which Kyiv dismissed as "propaganda".

Following are key facts about Chasiv Yar, which Russians call Chasov Yar, and the long battle for its control which began in March/April 2024.

WHAT IS CHASIV YAR?

With a pre-war population of more than 12,000, Chasiv Yar (Quiet Ravine) sits in the industrial Donbas area in Ukraine's Donetsk region, one of four regions that Moscow claimed to have annexed in 2022, something Kyiv called an illegal land grab. 

Dissected by a canal, the town's pre-war economy centred on a factory that produced reinforced concrete products and clay used in bricks. 

Located on higher ground, it once served as a regrouping point and as a forward artillery base for the Ukrainian army.

It was regarded by the Russian military as one of Ukraine's best defended strongholds due to its geography, elevated position, terrain and factories and apartment blocks where Ukrainian forces were able to dig in.  

WHY DOES RUSSIA WANT IT?

Russia's capture of the town, if confirmed, would advance Moscow's grinding effort to encircle the "fortress city" of Kostiantynivka which it is trying to envelop in a pincer movement, and remove what had become an obstacle to its army's advance westwards across the rest of Donetsk.    

Russian military analysts list Sloviansk, Kramatorsk, Druzhkivka and Kostiantynivka as the "fortress cities" in Ukraine's east accessible from Chasiv Yar if Moscow's forces can get there, something Kyiv is determined to stop.

Russian analysts say their military will use Chasiv Yar as a base to target Ukrainian forces in northern Donetsk with artillery and drone fire and to try to hamper Ukrainian supply lines in the area. But holding ground and advancing northwards will not be easy, war blogger Rybar said.       

WHAT HAS THE BATTLE FOR CHASIV YAR BEEN LIKE? 

Military analysts on both sides say the battle has been one of the longest of the war and one of the most grinding engagements with high but undisclosed casualties on both sides.

Russia's Defence Ministry said on Thursday its paratroopers had covered more than 20 km (12 miles) under Ukrainian artillery and drone fire in their push to take the town and had cleared more than 4,200 buildings and structures.

Reuters could not confirm that assertion.

Ukraine says its fierce and prolonged resistance in Chasiv Yar shows how it has been able to slow and inflict heavy casualties on a numerically-superior force, including with the help of its drone units.

HOW IMPORTANT WOULD ITS FALL BE?

Ukrainian analysts have downplayed Chasiv Yar's importance and suggested Russia taking it would be a Pyrrhic victory given the high price Kyiv has forced Moscow to pay for the town and how long it has been able to hold off Russian forces.   

Some Russian analysts say that the town's capture would be a tactical victory rather than a strategic one.  

Sergei Markov, a former Kremlin adviser, said the battle had gone on for so long that Chasiv Yar had lost its strategic importance. 

"But the capture of the city has symbolic significance: this is how the war could continue for many years to come - slowly, slowly, the Russian army will advance," Markov wrote on Telegram.

WHAT DOES CHASIV YAR LOOK LIKE NOW?

Most of the town lies in ruins and pulverised after extensive shelling, air strikes and glide bomb and drone attacks by Russian forces.

Ukraine says a Russian strike on residential buildings in the town in 2022 killed at least 43 people. Russia says those killed were Ukrainian troops.

The mayor of the town left long ago and most of its inhabitants were evacuated as its utilities - power, gas and water - were destroyed. Only 304 residents remained in the area as of November last year, sheltering in basements, according to Serhii Chaus, the head of the town's Ukrainian military administration. 

The Russian military said on Thursday that its forces had evacuated 65 civilians.

(Reporting by Andrew OsbornEditing by Andrew Heavens)