Col. Richard H. Black (ret.), speaking at the Oct. 4 meeting of the International Peace Coalition, announced that the strategic city of Ugledar in Donetsk, a crucial defense post for the Ukraine military, had fallen to Russian forces—noting that “as usual, the news had been blacked out of the Western press.”
The Russian Defense Ministry made the announcement in a one-line statement on Oct. 3: “As a result of the decisive efforts of the Vostok Group of Forces, Ugledar (Donetsk People’s Republic) has been liberated,” it said. A few hours later, TASS cited D.P.R. head Denis Pushilin saying Ugledar was important for the Ukrainian military because, among other things, its high-rise buildings made it possible to set up observation posts and a system of repeaters that allowed monitoring the fighting from dozens of kilometers away. Indeed, on Google Earth, Ugledar, located about 50 km to the southwest of Donetsk city, appears to be little more than a collection of high rises.
Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Anatoly Antonov praised the liberation of Ugledar as a great victory and said there are more to come: Responding to a media question on the Embassy’s Telegram channel, he said: “The administration representatives are silent because it is impossible for them to admit the collapse of their idea of Russia’s strategic defeat. The liberation of Ugledar is yet another confirmation that the endless supply of weapons to Kiev at the expense of the American taxpayer makes no sense. However, they do not want to settle down.”
The loss of Ugledar has apparently been a disaster for the Ukrainian army. The website Simplicius, in an update posted last night, cited numerous reports in the MSM that “highlight a truly grisly picture of the situation behind the scenes.” This includes the commander of the 123rd brigade who reportedly committed suicide after his troops mutinied and refused to fight. The 123rd was supposed to support the 72nd, which was the main brigade holding Ugledar. About 100 troops from the 123rd instead went to the town of Voznesensk in the Nikolaev Oblast, to declare insufficient training and a lack of weapons to participate in combat operations.”
