One of the directions that the Russian military is focused on is the settlement of Toretsk in the Donbas. 

Although the Russian forces control a good portion of the settlement, they have been able to completely capture it for months.  

The Push for Toretsk  

The Russian military is throwing more men and heavy weapon systems against the Ukrainian defenses in Toretsk in an attempt to completely capture the settlement.  

“Russian forces are likely attempting to break out of Toretsk's urban environment and advance into more open and rural areas that are similar to the areas where Russian forces have made significant gains in other sectors of the front in recent months,” the Institute for the Study of War assessed in its latest estimate of the conflict.  

In 2024, the Russian forces captured approximately 1,600 square miles of territory. The majority of this territory was farmland and fields, and thus easier to capture than urban centers like Toretsk. Indeed, it has taken the Russian forces six months to advance about six miles through Toretsk. That translates to one mile per month, a World War I performance that highlights the Russian military’s inability to wage modern maneuver warfare.  

“Russian forces achieved their most rapid rates of advance while operating in the fields and small settlements in the Pokrovsk, Kurakhove, and Vuhledar directions in Fall 2024 but have struggled to make rapid advances in urban areas including Toretsk,” the Institute for the Study of War added.  

Here at The National Interest, we have analyzed the Russian military’s inability to achieve an operational breakthrough due to chronic leadership, doctrinal, and troop quality issues. Understanding these shortcomings, the Russian military leadership is instead pursuing a tactical piecemeal approach that is bearing results.  

Urban Combat  

Urban combat is the most difficult type of combat. Fighting in an urban environment is slow and costly, with high casualties for both sides, but especially for the attacker. The Battle of Bakhmut, the longest and deadlier battle of the conflict thus far, is an example of how painstakingly slow and costly urban combat can be.  

It took Moscow about one year to capture the otherwise strategically insignificant town of Bakhmut in the Donbas. And the final butcher’s bill was unreasonably high with approximately 100,000 losses for the Russian military and paramilitary units.  

To make things worse for the Russian military, regular military units couldn’t budge the Ukrainian defenders, and the Kremlin had to resort to ordering the infamous Wagner Group mercenary group to take charge. The mercenaries, after months of bitter and deadly fighting, managed to push the Ukrainians back and finally captured the town in May 2023.  

And yet, one urban battle accounted for approximately one-eighth of Russia’s overall losses, around 800,000, in the entire war. And this is just one example. It took the Russian forces months to capture Mariupol, even after the city had been cut off and surrounded for months.  

Stavros Atlamazoglou is a seasoned defense journalist specializing in special operations and a Hellenic Army veteran (national service with the 575th Marine Battalion and Army HQ). He holds a BA from Johns Hopkins University and an MA from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). His work has been featured in Business Insider, Sandboxx, and SOFREP.

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