The Battle of Chasiv Yar is a military engagement in the Russo-Ukrainian war between the Russian Armed Forces and the Armed Forces of Ukraine for control of the city of Chasiv Yar and surrounding villages. The battle began on 4 April 2024 with the first direct assault on the city by Russian forces, and has thus far seen the capture of the district east of a canal passing through the city, the crossing of the canal, and the claimed capture of the city as of early August 2025. , the Institute for the Study of War reported continued fighting in the city
Due to its defensible elevated terrain and strategic location in Donetsk Oblast, Chasiv Yar is regarded as a pivotal provincial city for either army to control. According to analysts, a Russian capture of Chasiv Yar would likely allow further advances towards the cities of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, the two largest settlements in Donetsk Oblast not under Russian occupation. However, , these cities remain under Ukrainian control, although subject to Russian shelling.
Background
The hilltop city of Chasiv Yar has served as a front-line stronghold on the eastern front since 20 May 2023, when the Russian Armed Forces captured the neighboring city of Bakhmut, located 10 km (6 miles) to the east. Ukrainian forces stabilized the front-line east of Chasiv Yar shortly after, using the city to direct fire against Russian forces and as a staging point to push the Russians back along the flanks of Bakhmut during the 2023 counteroffensive.
The Siverskyi Donets – Donbas Canal runs through eastern Chasiv Yar. The canal separates most of Chasiv Yar from the "Kanal" microdistrict – the only neighborhood located east of the canal.
Prelude
In December 2023, analyst and co-founder of DeepStateMap.Live, Roman Pohorilyi, remarked that "essentially it can be said that the defense of Chasiv Yar has already begun and every day they are getting closer and closer". Russian sources considered the offensives around Bakhmut as a push westwards towards Chasiv Yar, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), an American think tank and war observer.
Following the conclusion of the battle of Avdiivka in February 2024, Russian forces restarted assault efforts from western Bakhmut towards Chasiv Yar. Chasiv Yar was seen as the next target of Russian forces after taking Avdiivka. On 8 February, the ISW noted that Russian and Ukrainian officials reported that positional engagements were occurring in the direction of Chasiv Yar. On 17 February, Russian forces dropped an ODAB-1500 thermobaric bomb on defending positions in Chasiv Yar.
Illia Yevlash, the spokesman for the Khortytsia operational-strategic group, announced on 27 February that Russia was targeting villages to the east of Chasiv Yar, such as Bohdanivka. Yevlash also claimed that Russian commanders were using human wave tactics involving Storm-Z and Storm-V penal units that had lost ~60% of their armored support due to Ukrainian artillery. On 1 March, Yevlash claimed that the Russian military had accumulated a large force near Chasiv Yar, had launched a "powerful thrust" toward the city, and was attempting to break through weak spots in the city's defenses.
On 23 March, the Russian Army claimed to have captured the village of Ivanivske, located southeast of Chasiv Yar. Ukrainian blogger and soldier Vitaly Ovcharenko reported on 26 March that Russian forces were shelling the city daily and constantly conducting assaults.
According to Sergiy Chaus, the head of the Chasiv Yar military administration (effectively the mayor of the city), 770 residents remained in the city as of early April 2024, compared to the pre-war population of 12,000 people.
In early April 2024, Ukraine's 5th Assault Brigade was stationed near Chasiv Yar.
Battle
Early fighting and capture of Bohdanivka (4 – 21 April 2024) After months of grinding down the Ukrainian fortified positions between Bakhmut and Chasiv Yar, the Russian Armed Forces launched their first direct armed assault on Chasiv Yar on 4 April. Supported by Su-25 close air support, a company-sized mechanized column advanced westwards along the T0506 (Khromove-Chasiv Yar) road and reached the eastern outskirts of the city, where Ukraine's 23rd Infantry Battalion was reportedly garrisoned. The next day, Russian reports suggested that Russian forces entrenched themselves along Zelena Street, the outermost street of the "Kanal" micro-district, which is Chasiv Yar's easternmost district, located east of the Siverskyi Donets – Donbas Canal. The Ukrainian military acknowledged the situation on the outskirts of Chasiv Yar had now become tense and difficult amid Russian encroachment, but denied Russian presence inside Chasiv Yar.
On 6 April, Commander-in-Chief Colonel-General Oleksandr Syrskyi stated "Chasiv Yar remains under our control as all the enemy's attempts to advance toward the settlement have failed." Mayor Sergiy Chaus confirmed the situation in the city was now dangerous, saying that there was "constant fire" heard in the city and that "there is not a single intact building left." The city's last known "stabilisation point"–a medical post that treats wounded soldiers evacuated from the front line–was itself recently evacuated for safety reasons, resulting in wounded Ukrainian soldiers having to be evacuated from the city by truck or on foot, according to a medic. Soldiers of Ukraine's 5th Assault Brigade confirmed they were increasing their FPV drone attacks, including with Mavics. The Chasiv Yar garrison reportedly suffered from shortages in artillery and anti-air ammunition at this time. Meanwhile, the Centre for Defence Strategies, a Ukrainian think tank, noted that "Urban combat operations may soon begin in Chasiv Yar".
On 9 April, the Khortytsia operational-strategic group reiterated that Russian forces had yet to enter Chasiv Yar, but stated "both today and yesterday, the enemy used their air superiority in missiles and large-calibre artillery ammunition" to bombard the city's infrastructure in support of Russian infantry and IFV assaults. The Russians were attempting to transfer infantry and large amounts of artillery pieces "as close to the contact line as possible so that they can launch assaults, but Ukrainian defenders are doing everything they possibly can to repel these attacks," including utilizing "large-scale counter-battery fire," according to Khortytsia.
On 10 April, the Ukrainians repelled a Russian "reinforced mechanised company" leaving their forward base in Ivanivske and driving west towards the forestry south of Chasiv Yar and southeast of the Kanal micro-district. Reportedly, Ukrainian artillery gunners, anti-tank missile crews, or drone operators utilized a small damaged bridge on the T-0504 road west of Ivanivske as a chokepoint to entrap advancing Russian armor, striking at least one Russian BMP as it crossed the bridge and forcing the rest of the assault vehicles to retreat. Ukrainian soldiers initially claimed 11 of 25 Russian vehicles were destroyed, but a military observer subsequently said 19 out of 34 vehicles were destroyed.
On 11 April, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), an American think tank and war observer, assessed that positional battles continued on the eastern outskirts of Chasiv Yar and cited Russian sources as saying that elements of Russia's 98th Guards Airborne Division were participating in the assaults near the Kanal micro-district and Bohdanivka.
On 13 April, DeepStateMap.Live reported that Russian forces captured the town of Bohdanivka, located 3 kilometers northeast of Chasiv Yar.
On 14 April, Colonel-General Syrskyi stated that Chasiv Yar's garrison brigades had been reinforced with "ammunition, drones and electronic warfare equipment." Syrskyi, and later President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, also claimed that Russian military leadership had tasked their troops with capturing Chasiv Yar by 9 May.
On 16 April, Ukraine's National Guard stated that the Russians were transferring troops, reserves and resources from the relatively stagnant Kupiansk-Lyman front to reinforce the Chasiv Yar axis, indicating "the strategic significance of Chasiv Yar for the enemy. They will attempt to secure a victory here by any means necessary."
On 17–18 April, the ISW reported Russian advances amid ongoing clashes southeast of Chasiv Yar near Ivanivske and northeast of Chasiv Yar on the Bohdanivka axis, with Russian sources claiming advances on the approach to Kalynivka, located west of Bohdanivka and northeast of Chasiv Yar. Ukrainian forces commented on the Russian operations, with the Khortytsia operational-strategic group reporting that Russian troops were using ATVs to quickly transport and deploy infantry to the front line, while a Ukrainian battalion commander defending Chasiv Yar alleged that the Russians lost "between 40 and 70 percent of their equipment during assaults" and said 50 Ukrainian FPV drones were striking between 20 and 25 Russian targets "each day." A Ukrainian army spokesman stated that the Russians were attempting to avoid drone detection by limiting the size of their assault groups to no more than company size. Russian warplanes, including Su-25s and Su-34s, continued to launch heavy glide bomb strikes against Ukrainian ammunition depots and fighting positions in and around the city amid reported shortages in Ukrainian air defense munitions.
On 19 April, Ukrainian military observer Kostyantyn Mashovets reported the Russians were assaulting Chasiv Yar from three directions: from the Bohdanivka-Kalynivka axis towards the Kanal micro-district, along the T0504 (Bakhmut-Chasiv Yar) highway, and from the Ivanivske-Klishchiivka axis towards the Siverskyi Donets – Donbas Canal.
On 21 April, the Russian Ministry of Defence officially announced the capture of Bohdanivka as Russian forces continued to advance west towards Chasiv Yar.
Continued Russian encroachment and capture of Ivanivske (22 April – 21 June 2024) On 22 April, Ukraine's Khortytsia operational-strategic group stated that 20,000 to 25,000 Russian troops were assaulting Chasiv Yar and its outskirt settlements and acknowledged the situation remained difficult "but controllable". Russian forces were "constantly storming" Chasiv Yar and attempting to gain a foothold in the city but were being repeatedly repelled by reinforced Ukrainian defenders, according to the group's spokesperson. On 23 April, a Ukrainian military spokesman stated that "In just the past day, 100 mortar and artillery bombardments were recorded on this direction, which is twice as many compared to the previous day." In early May, a Ukrainian milblogger estimated that as many as 15 Russian motorized rifle brigades were operating on the Chasiv Yar axis alone.
On 2 May, Major General Vadym Skibitskyi, the Deputy Chief of Ukraine's Main Directorate of Intelligence (HUR), stated that it was "probably a matter of time" that Russian forces would capture Chasiv Yar, but that the capture was not imminent and was dependent on Ukrainian reserves and supplies. On 3 May, Ukrainian Ground Forces Commander Lieutenant General Oleksandr Pavliuk stated that Russian forces had an estimated 10-to-1 artillery advantage over Ukrainian forces and was enjoying "total air superiority" over Chasiv Yar. Meanwhile, Russian milbloggers reported Russian troops were improving tactical positions on the city's outskirts via small infantry-led assaults, while dismissing Ukrainian claims that Russian forces were ordered to capture the city by 9 May. Clashes continued on the Bohdanivka axis, near the Novyi micro-district in eastern Chasiv Yar, east of Chasiv Yar near Ivanivske, and southeast of Chasiv Yar near Klishchiivka and Andriivka, according to the ISW.