Military analyst warns of imminent Ukrainian withdrawal from Vuhledar

He described the situation as critical.

"In recent weeks, the situation has developed very unfavorably, to put it mildly, for the defense forces," he said. 

Russian troops are advancing simultaneously from the west and the northeast. "It is not a semi-encirclement, there is a threat of physical encirclement, not operational. I don't think there will be any fighting in the city.”

The enemy has already established itself on the outskirts, which is unpleasant but not decisive.

"It is this movement from the east and the west that is the most dangerous and the most decisive factor that will obviously lead to the withdrawal of our units from Vuhledar to avoid this encirclement."

Popovich believes the city could fall under enemy control within days, or possibly even hours, as the situation deteriorates rapidly.

This follows an earlier report by the DeepState monitoring group on Sept. 24 that the situation around Vuhledar is critical and deteriorating as Russian forces attempt to encircle the city while simultaneously bombarding it with artillery and KAB bombs.