It was announced: The occupation has started

Chasiv Yar is located at a height of about 20 km west of Bakhmut, a city that was captured by Russian forces a year ago when rivers of blood were spilled on both sides.

Chasiv Yar is now seen by both Russia and Ukraine as a potential starting point for Russian advances towards the key cities of Kramatorsk and Slovyansk.

Ukrainska Pravda quoted a military source and a blogger as saying that Russian forces had begun the occupation of the part of the city along the canal.

Russian assault units continue to clear the canal area, the Russian 98th Parachute Division announced on Telegram.

Video released by both sides shows soldiers making their way through nearly destroyed areas of the urban center and checking buildings.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky did not mention Chasiv Yar in a video address on Sunday night, but said that the most difficult sector to defend is the area around the city of Pokrovsk in the southwest.