‘There was no official order for withdrawal from Vuhledar’– 72nd Brigade officer

Source: Mykola Voroshnov/Facebook

Aerial reconnaissance officer Mykola Voroshnov from the 72nd Separate Mechanized Brigade claims that Ukraine’s top military command did not issue an official order to withdraw from Vuhledar, Donetsk region. In his bitter post on social media, the officer said that it was impossible to control the sieged town as Russian forces pressed from three directions. Analysts from DeepState had earlier reported similar assessments.

Ukrainian forces have defended Vuhledar for two years, despite constant pressure from Russian troops advancing on its flanks. On October 1, both DeepState analysts and the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said that Russian forces captured the town.

“Vuhledar has fallen. The town was doomed, and saving it was impossible. But saving the people was still an option. Yet, no order for withdrawal was given. Everyone in and around the city knew the countdown was not in days anymore, but in hours. Still, the order never came. Where would we retreat? No one knew. As long as the enemy has the strength to chase us, we’ll keep falling back,” Voroshnov wrote in his post.

On October 2, Ukrainian military command confirmed that it authorized the “maneuver to withdraw” units from Vuhledar.