Ukraine's army chief of staff said on Sunday that Russian forces aim to capture the town of Khasiv Yar by May 9, setting the stage for a major battle for control of the high ground in the east where Moscow is focusing its attacks.
The fall of the city west of the ruined Bakhmut by the date Moscow commemorates the Soviet victory in World War II would indicate the growing momentum of Russian forces on the battlefield as Kiev faces a slowdown in Western military aid.
Lt. Gen. Oleksandr Sirski, who warned this weekend that the situation in the east had worsened, said Russia was concentrating efforts west of occupied Bakhmut to try to capture Chasiv Yar before moving toward the city of Kramatorsk.
Chasiv Yar in the Donetsk region is located ten kilometers from Bakhmut, a destroyed city that was captured by Russian forces in May of last year after several months of bloody fighting.
Ukrainian brigades have so far managed to contain attacks near Chasiv Yar and have been reinforced with ammunition, drones and electronic warfare devices, he said in a statement on Telegram.
"The threat remains relevant, taking into account the fact that the senior Russian military leadership has tasked its troops with capturing Chasiv Yar by May 9," he said, without elaborating.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov posted on Facebook that he visited Ukrainian units on the eastern front on Sunday and described the situation as "tense" as Russia tries to advance in areas west of Bakhmut.
"Despite the numerical superiority of the enemy, we are effectively disrupting these plans thanks to the courage, training and professionalism of the defenders," he wrote.
Russia marks May 9 with a large military parade in Red Square overseen by President Vladimir Putin, who won a new six-year term in the Kremlin in tightly controlled elections in March.
The war escalated in recent weeks when Russia carried out three major airstrikes on Ukrainian power plants and substations, raising fears about the resilience of an energy system that was under attack during the first winter of the war.
President Volodymyr Zelensky told Ukrainians in his nightly address on Sunday: "The situation at the front during such a hot war is always difficult. But these days - and especially on the Donetsk front - it is becoming more and more difficult."
The Ukrainian leader has warned that the Kremlin may be preparing to launch a major offensive in the late spring or summer.
It is unclear where the attack will take place, but Russia is currently focusing its attacks on the Donetsk region.
This year, Ukraine tried to find a pressure point to strike back at the Kremlin, using home-made long-range drones to bomb oil facilities deep inside Russia.
Ukraine now faces manpower challenges and a shortage of artillery shells.
Rob Lee, a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Institute think tank in Philadelphia, told the Ex Network that the battle for Chasiv Yar is likely to prove important.
"Chasiv Yar is on defensible high ground. If Russia captures (the city), they could potentially increase the rate of advance deeper into the Donetsk (region) as part of the expected summer offensive," he said.
"Russian forces will still have to cross the canal to capture (the city), but they have now reached the canal southeast of (the city). Immediate increased ammunition deliveries could prove critical," Rob Lee said.
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