Kostiantynivka

Among the battle-hardened men is gentle Olena, a bakery manager from the city of Kostiantynivka in eastern Ukraine.

The Russians are now pushing toward two midsize towns, Pokrovsk and Kurakhove, and a highway between Pokrovsk and the town of Kostiantynivka that links the southern Donbas with towns in the north, he said.

It would also put Russian troops within around 10 miles of Kostiantynivka, the main supply juncture for Ukrainian forces across much of the eastern front.

Military commanders in Kyiv have said Chasiv Yar, which has been virtually emptied of its pre-war population, would open up a path towards the Ukrainian-held cities of Kostiantynivka, Kramatorsk and Sloviansk if captured by Moscow's forces.

Immediately, Moscow’s troops sought to reinforce their tactical success and push further into larger, strategically significant towns — Kostiantynivka, Sloviansk and Druzkhivka — that together form the fortress wall of Ukraine’s main defense of the Donetsk region.