RUSSIA has forced Ukrainian forces to withdraw from the town of Vuhledar, perched atop a tactically significant hill in eastern Ukraine, after more than two years of fighting, military officials said today.

Vuhledar is the latest in a growing number of urban settlements to fall to the Russians. It follows a vicious summer campaign along the eastern front that saw Kiev cede several thousand square miles of territory.

Ukraine’s Khortytsia ground forces formation, which commands eastern regions including Donetsk, said in a statement posted on Telegram that it was withdrawing troops from Vuhledar to “protect the military personnel and equipment.”