Under Vuhledar, Russia lost more elite soldiers than in 10 years in Chechnya – BBC.

In a year of fighting under Vuhledar, the elite units of the Russian Federation's Marine Corps suffered significant losses, which are four times their losses over ten years of the war in Chechnya. More than 200 deaths occurred in total. This is reported by the BBC.

Vuhledar is a strategically important point, and the most intense fighting took place around it in the fall of 2022 and winter of 2023.

To storm the city, elite brigades 155 and 40 of the Marine Corps of the Russian Armed Forces, also known as "black berets", with support from armored vehicles, including BMP and tanks, were involved. They were supported by motorized rifle units, comprised of mobilized and volunteer fighters.

According to the BBC, during the battles for Vuhledar, at least 211 Marines of the 155 brigade were killed, and another 42 people are considered missing. This significantly exceeds the losses of this unit over ten years of the war in Chechnya, the publication emphasizes.

Also, the fights involved fighters from the 40 brigade from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. BBC journalists confirmed the death of 72 Russian military personnel from this unit. The severity of the losses is confirmed by the fact that Storm-Z units, composed of prisoners from Russian colonies, were added to both brigades.

On October 1, information appeared that the Russian army occupied Vuhledar in the Donetsk region. According to the ISW, as of October 1, the occupiers established control over the settlement, likely after the withdrawal of Ukrainian forces. According to analysts, Ukrainian military conducted a planned withdrawal from Vuhledar to avoid encirclement. Russian sources claim that the withdrawal of Ukrainian forces began at the end of September 30.

On October 2, higher command confirmed the permission for the withdrawal of Ukrainian defenders' units from Vuhledar. This decision was made to preserve personnel and combat equipment for further tasks.

Also, the press officer of the 72nd Separate Mechanized Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine named after the Black Zaporizhians, Arseniy Prilipko, stated that the evacuation of wounded soldiers from Vuhledar was challenging, but the withdrawal from the city allowed Ukrainian troops to reduce losses.