In time for Victory Day
The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), Oleksandr Syrskyi, said that the Russian army hoped to capture Chasiv Yar by 9 May, when Russia celebrates the Soviet victory in the Second World War, The Kyiv Independent reported on 14 April. Syrskyi said Russia aimed to break through Ukrainian defences west of Bakhmut, reach the Siverskyi Donets-Donbas canal, seize Chasiv Yar and then make “further progress towards Kramatorsk”, the provisional seat of the Donetsk region.