Russia claimed Thursday to have captured a key Ukrainian town after more than 16 months of intense fighting, while unleashing a deadly seven-hour drone assault on Kyiv that offered no hint of agreeing to President Donald Trump’s demands to end its war.
One Ukrainian military spokesman denied Moscow’s claims that it had captured Chasiv Yar, saying Russian troops had only raised their flag over a part of the strategically important town they had occupied months ago.
The Russian Ministry of Defense announced its capture in a short statement, another sign the Kremlin shows little appetite for the ceasefire that Trump has demanded.
On Tuesday, Trump — whose historical warmth toward Putin has chilled significantly in recent weeks — said that he would start imposing tariffs and other measures on Moscow if it did not agree to a peace plan in 10 days.
While Russia was declaring victory in Chasiv Yar, it was launching hundreds of drones and missiles at Ukrainian civilians in Kyiv. It fired at least 308 drones and eight cruise missiles, according to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Most of these were shot down, but more than two dozen struck their target, it said.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said at least six people had been killed, including a 6-year-old boy.
“Today, the world again saw Russia’s response to our desire for peace with America and Europe: new demonstrative killings,” he said in his nightly address. He said that “peace without strength is impossible” — reiterating his war-long mantra that Ukraine needs more arms “to force Moscow to peace” and “to make them sit at a real negotiating table.”
Ukraine denies key town has fallen
With a pre-war population of just 12,000, Chasiv Yar today lies in ruins following more than a year of attritional warfare between the Russian invaders and Ukraine. Its significance owes to its key position en route to key “fortress” cities in the Donetsk region, including Kostiantynivka, Sloviansk and Kramatorsk.
Victor Trygubov, spokesman for Ukraine’s troops in the Khortytsia region, denied that Russia had made the key gain.
“As usual, they once again raised a flag at the occupied part of the town, which they took about a half year ago,” he said, while spreading “false information information that they control all of the town.”
It was not immediately possible to independently verify either sides’ statements.
NBC News has visited Chasiv Yar several times before, including in Feb. 2024 when its remaining residents expressed their frustration at what they saw as an insufficient amount of aid being contributed by the West.
One piece of graffiti in the town read: “We are not asking too much. We just need artillery shells and aviation. Rest we do ourselves,” signed: “Armed Forces of Ukraine.”
Ukrainians do not see this as charity: For them, and many of their supporters in the United States and Europe, Ukraine’s fight against Russia is synonymous with the wider struggle to contain President Vladimir Putin’s anti-Western aggression.
“During the last two years I got used to keeping my emotions inside, but sometimes you just want to scream,” the town’s mayor, Serhiy Chaus, said back then of his frustrations at this perceived insufficient support.
Daryna Mayer and Reuters contributed.
