The Ukrainian military's commander in chief, General Valeriy Zaluzhniy, said Kyiv's forces had retreated from Maryinka and new defensive lines had been prepared outside the strategic town as Kyiv's forces continued to shell Moscow's troops from a distance.
Ukraine Admits Retreat From Strategic Town While Its Troops Punish Russian Positions From Afar
A Ukrainian soldier of the 55th Separate Artillery Brigade prepares to fire a M777 howitzer toward Russian positions near the frontline town of Maryinka in the Donetsk region on December 26.
Despite retreating from the destroyed town, Kyiv's forces continue to shell Russian positions in Maryinka.
Ukrainian soldiers prepare to fire another salvo.
Moscow said on December 25 that its forces had captured Maryinka, which is situated less than 30 kilometers southwest of the Russian-controlled city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine.
Drone footage from February showed the devastation of Maryinka, which had a prewar population of under 10,000.
The capture of the strategic town potentially opens a new corridor for advancing Russian troops in the Donetsk region.
Ukrainian soldiers near Maryinka on December 26.
"At this time today, our troops are still in northern areas," General Valeriy Zaluzhniy, Ukraine's top military commander, said. "Our troops had readied a defensive line outside this locality, but I can say that this locality no longer exists."
Every inch of Ukrainian land is vital, Zaluzhniy said, but “the lives of our fighters are more important to us.”
A Ukrainian soldier enjoys a cigarette.
Ukraine has been fending off a full-scale Russian invasion since February 24, 2022, when Russian forces overran its territory on multiple fronts.
A Ukrainian soldiers readies a 155 mm artillery shell for firing.
Kyiv has vowed to retake all the land occupied by Russia, including the Crimean Peninsula, which the Kremlin illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
A member of the artillery brigade zeros in on Russian positions...
...before firing the howitzer's 155 mm shell.