Battle of Chassiv Yar: Soviet Canal to stop Russian tanks

War trophy for Putin’s May 9th?
This is how Russia reaches out to Chassiv Yar

By Martin Morcinek
April 22, 2024, 7:43 a.m

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Russia’s war machine is forcing Ukraine into the next big battle: a few kilometers west of Bakhmut, the front is approaching the city limits of Chasiv Yar in several places. How and where do the defenders want to stop the Russian superiority?

In the fighting in eastern Ukraine, the Ukrainian armed forces are confronted with major Russian attacks at several points on the front: One focus of the spring offensive ordered by Moscow is around 60 kilometers north of Donetsk near Bakhmut.

For weeks, the Russian invasion army has been pushing westwards from the rubble of the destroyed Donbass city of Bakhmut, relentlessly and without regard to losses. The target of the Russian offensive operations is obviously the small town of Chassiv Yar, as can be seen by looking at the map based on the terrain gained so far.

At least three Russian attack wedges have already dangerously approached the city area. A single advance even briefly penetrated an eastern suburb of Chasiv Yar. In the area characterized by fields, forest strips and fallow meadows, fighting takes place day and night. The situation for the defenders is critical, as Ukrainian commander-in-chief Olexander Syrskij recently admitted.

If Chasiv Yar falls, the Ukrainians would have to fear a major Russian breakthrough. Largely open terrain begins behind Chassiv Yar. The way would then be clear for the Moscow invasion army to make a deep advance towards Kramatorsk and Sloviansk. The entire arc of the front in the northern Donetsk region from Bakhmut via Seversk to the already heavily beleaguered hotspot of Bilohorivka would be in acute danger.

The Ukrainian leadership is doing everything it can to stop the Russian advance near Chasiv Yar. After all, the terrain and local conditions play into the hands of the defenders. The small town, which once had fewer than 15,000 inhabitants, is only around nine kilometers from Bakhmut, but the terrain rises slightly to the west.

Chasiv Yar is located on a hill. The urban area is made up of several districts, some of which are far apart. Multi-story residential buildings, concrete basements and larger industrial facilities promise protection and cover. Between the purely residential areas and the dacha settlements typical of the region, the special sandworks in the town center stands out from the cityscape. The tracks of a railway embankment cut through the small town in a west-east direction.

A canal as an anti-tank ditch?

The most important feature in the terrain, however, is a relic from Soviet times: from north to south, a winding incision separates the easternmost suburb from the rest of the city: the Donbass Canal, built in the 1950s, runs here, carrying water from the Don tributary Siverskyi towards Donets who is supposed to manage Donetsk industrial plants.

The wide trench represents a serious obstacle for heavy equipment such as battle tanks or logistics vehicles. Safely navigable crossings can only be found in a few places. From prepared positions, these crossings can easily be taken under fire if the enemy approaches. In built-up terrain, defenders generally have an advantage.

Barrier with gaps

The canal ditch is an ideal line of defense. The narrow body of water had already proven to be a militarily significant obstacle during the fighting last year. At the level of Chasiv Yar, however, a problem arises for the Ukrainians: the canal does not run on the surface along its entire route. In several places it disappears into the ground. With great effort, the Soviet engineers wanted to overcome the valley indentation of the Bakhmutka that approached from the east. The canal is piped in these places.

The Russians appear to be targeting precisely these gaps in the canal barrier. Their attacks always follow a similar pattern: rocket launchers and heavy artillery bombard the front Ukrainian line. Russian fighter jets drop the dreaded glide bombs from a distance. They are designed to hit the rear of the defenders and cause massive devastation.

At the same time, the Russian commanders are sending wave after wave of lightly armed shock troops into the death zone. Tanks and better-equipped combat troops then move in – while the Ukrainians gradually run out of ammunition. With losses that are difficult to imagine, the Russians manage to push the main line of battle further and further forward.

Conquest by May 9th?

Chasiv Yar has been close to the front since the Battle of Bakhmut. As an important transport hub, the small town served as a base near the front to supply the fighting units. After more than two years of war, the roads and routes towards Bakhmut are closed lined with the wreckage of Russian and Ukrainian vehicles. Chassiv Yar itself has been under constant fire for months.

So far the Ukrainian defenders have been able to withstand the Russian onslaught. However, the Russian artillery superiority and the Ukrainian lack of ammunition are particularly painfully noticeable here – in one of the most important flashpoints of the war.

The situation in this sector of the front is “increasingly difficult,” according to reports from Kiev. Commander-in-Chief Syrsky also had to admit that the situation had “worsened”. A rapid withdrawal seems impossible. Russia wants to “take” the front-line city by May 9th at the latest, Syrskyj explained. May 9th is celebrated in Russia as a day to commemorate the victory over Nazi Germany and is usually celebrated with an elaborate military parade in Moscow.

According to his account, the Russian military leadership’s main aim in the battle for the small town is to achieve a demonstrable propaganda success. Russian leader Vladimir Putin could apparently urgently need such a narrow triumph.

Despite all the brutality and ruthlessness, his large-scale war of aggression in Ukraine is progressing very slowly overall: it took the Russian military machine almost a full year to cover the nine kilometers from Bakhmut to Chasiv Yar.