Combat raged around the city of Kreminna in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday, as Ukrainian forces edged closer to reclaiming that small but strategically important city, while the Russians battled to defend some of their hardest-fought gains of the war.
Kreminna is a gateway to two much larger cities nearby, Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk, important industrial centers in the Donbas region that fell to Russia after a grueling and costly summer campaign. Russian President Vladimir Putin has called conquering and annexing Donbas the heart of the war effort.
Since enduring a series of humiliating retreats, the Russian military has fortified its lines near Kreminna with a series of defensive barriers, part of its effort to solidify its positions up and down a jagged front that stretches for hundreds of miles. Retaking the city and other towns nearby would expand the Ukrainians’ foothold in the region, and give them control of major roads leading to Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk.