[UPDATED: July 31, 3:00 pm
, Kyiv time. Updated with comments from Ukraine’s 11th Army Corps]
Russia claimed on Thursday to have captured Chasiv Yar, a stronghold in Ukraine’s Donetsk region – a claim that Kyiv denies.
Chasiv Yar, with a pre-war population of around 12,000, sits on high ground that gives Kyiv’s forces a tactical advantage. It sits approximately 12 kilometers (7 miles) from Bakhmut, another stronghold captured by Russian troops in May 2023.
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Losing Chasiv Yar could allow Russian troops to march towards Kostiantynivka, a key logistics hub for Kyiv, and then further to Druzhkivka and Kramatorsk, two cities key to holding the Donetsk region.
Russia’s Ministry of Defense claimed to have captured the town in its Thursday morning daily update:
“Units of the Southern Group of Forces, as a result of active military operations, liberated the city of Chasov Yar in the Donetsk People’s Republic [DPR],” using the Russian spelling of the town and framing it as part of the Kremlin-backed proxy state established in eastern Ukraine.
However, Ukraine’s Khortytsia operational group defending the region said Kyiv forces are still holding onto the area.
Viktor Trehubov, Khortytsia’s spokesperson, told Kyiv Post: “The situation in the town has remained unchanged recently, despite Russian lies,” he said.
Khortytsia’s official Thursday update also said Kyiv forces are holding the line.
“In the Kramatorsk and Toretsk sectors, the invaders’ assault actions were directed at our defensive fortifications near Bondarne, Orikhovo-Vasylivka, Novomarkovo, Bila Hora, Shcherbynivka, Oleksandro-Kalynovy, Oleksandro-Shultyny and in the urban areas of Chasovy Yar and Toretsk,” the update says.
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“Our soldiers are courageously holding the defense, destroying the superior enemy forces,” it adds.
Analyzing Russia’s alleged gains
The open-source battlefield map DeepState UA, which tracks frontline changes in Ukraine, shows that Russian troops have made meager gains in the north and southern flanks of Chasiv Yar over the past two months, but with little to no progress within the town itself.
The map shows Russian forces have gained a foothold in the eastern part of Chasiv Yar, but their advance has stalled along Dniprovska Street, which runs parallel to the town’s railway line.
Side-by-side comparison of Ukrainian and Russian-held territory in Chasiv Yar between May 30 (left) and July 30 (right), 2025. Map source: DeepState UA. Collage by Kyiv Post.
A propaganda video released by Russia’s Ministry of Defense on Thursday, where Russian flags were displayed in various locations in Chasiv Yar, appears to support the assertion.
While Kyiv Post cannot determine the exact location of every single flag displayed, one, visible in a zoomed-out drone footage between 0:03–0:05, confirmed that it is situated next to the Chasovoyarsky Refractory Plant, east of Dniprovska Street.
Screenshot from a promotion video released by Russia’s Ministry of Defense
Ukraine’s 11th Army Corps said on Thursday that the flags were placed in areas already under Russian control, calling the acts “performances” for “internal propaganda.”
“For three days – July 27, 28, and 29 – the enemy, risking their own lives for the sake of the promised leave, carried out demonstrative actions in various locations in the settlement of Chasiv Yar in broad daylight,” its update says.
“The occupiers installed tricolors in the area of the refractory plant, which has not been physically under the control of Ukrainian forces for a long time, as well as in the territory of the Pivchny district temporarily under the control of the enemy,” it adds, which aligns with Kyiv Post’s assertion.
“Such ‘performances’ of Russian soldiers were filmed and are probably an element of internal propaganda.”
The 11th Army Corps reiterated claims that Chasiv Yar remains under Ukrainian control.
“Despite Russian information manipulation, Chasiv Yar remains under the control of the 11th Army Corps, in particular the 24th Infantry Division, which continues to hold the city despite the enemy’s constant attempts to advance,” the statement adds.
DeepState UA’s data shows that much of Russia’s progress in the eastern parts of Chasiv Yar came at the beginning of the year, a timing that coincided with the uncertainty of foreign weapons aid to Kyiv.
Side-by-side comparison of Ukrainian and Russian-held territory in Chasiv Yar between Jan. 1 (left), March 1 (middle) and July 1 (right), 2025. Map source: DeepState UA. Collage by Kyiv Post.
Ukrainian troops reportedly successfully repelled Russian attempts to gain a foothold in October 2024.
Moscow’s push toward Chasiv Yar began in earnest in May 2023, following the fall of nearby Bakhmut. More than two years of intense fighting have reduced the town to little more than rubble, with Russian forces relentlessly shelling any position that could offer cover to Ukrainian troops.
Capturing the Donetsk region remains one of Moscow’s key war objectives. The region was among the four Ukrainian territories Russia claimed to annex – including the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions – following widely condemned sham referendums in late 2022.
At present, Russia controls almost the entirety of Ukraine’s Luhansk region and the majority of the Donetsk region.
Speaking to Kyiv Post on Thursday, Kyiv forces also denied Russian reports of gains made in other sectors.
Colonel Vlad Voloshyn, spokesman for the Southern Defense Forces, also addressed claims by the Russians regarding the occupation of another settlement in the Zaporizhzhia region.
“The enemy has not captured Kamianske. Information about the alleged occupation of the settlement of Kamianske in Vasylivka district of the Zaporizhia region by Russian troops is currently not true,” Voloshyn told Kyiv Post.
“In fact, the situation in this direction remains extremely complex and dynamic. On the northern and northeastern outskirts of the village, there are our positions, where fighters are located. In particular, combat clashes are currently ongoing on several of them,” he said, adding that Kyiv forces are still holding the lines in those positions.