Russian occupation forces have lost approximately 50,000 soldiers—including 20,000 killed in action—over 10 months of fighting for Toretsk, Major Serhiy Khominskyi, press officer of Ukraine’s 100th Separate Mechanized Brigade.
Once home to some 30,000 residents in Donetsk Oblast, Toretsk is now nearly completely destroyed due to relentless Russian shelling. Before the war, it was a thriving industrial town with coal mines, a processing plant, a bakery complex, and several factories. Today, only 48 residents remain, according to regional authorities.
“The situation remains consistently intense. The enemy continues shelling day and night with all available weapons and occasionally attempts assault operations,” said Khominskyi on Ukrainian TV.
Russia lost 50,000 troops trying to take a Ukrainian town with 48 residents.
— Euromaidan Press (@EuromaidanPress) May 17, 2025
Ten months of assaults.
170 attacks in one week.
Still no breakthrough in Toretsk.
Ukrainian forces are holding the line.
Video: 100th Mech Bde, UAF pic.twitter.com/beEpqjBZmA
Toretsk is Russia’s gateway to the heart of Donbas
Despite constant attacks, Russian forces have failed to seize the city. The 100th Separate Mechanized Brigade—nicknamed the Steel Hundred—along with attached units and National Police forces, has been defending Toretsk for nearly a year.
“Toretsk is key because it opens the road to Kostyantynivka, the first in a chain of cities—Druzhkivka, Kramatorsk, Sloviansk—that form the heart of unoccupied Donbas,” Khominskyi explained.
Massive Russian losses force new tactics in Toretsk
According to Lieutenant Colonel Dmytro Zaporozhets, spokesperson for the Luhansk operational-tactical group, more than 15,000 Russian troops are currently listed as missing in action, presumed dead.
“In just the past week, Russian forces launched 170 assault operations, most of them concentrated in the Toretsk sector,” Zaporozhets said on Ukrainian TV.
Recent Russian tactics include:
Deploying motorcycle assault teams supported by armored vehicles
Targeting Toretsk’s flanks with daily assaults
Using brigade command personnel in frontline attacks due to extreme losses.
“The 132nd Separate Motor Rifle Brigade is so depleted that its command staff is now being thrown into assaults. Among their soldiers, there’s a saying: ‘Toretsk is a one-way trip,’” he added.
Toretsk’s role in Ukraine’s defense—and a counteroffensive
Toretsk holds critical importance for Ukrainian defense as it:
Enables fire control over Russian positions
Shields the Kostyantynivka–Kramatorsk urban cluster
Serves as a potential launchpad for a counteroffensive toward Horlivka.
As the BBC notes, a successful Ukrainian operation in this sector could sever Russian logistical routes between occupied Donetsk and Luhansk. According to Russian military blogger Kotenok, Russian forces aim to reach the Kleban-Byk Reservoir, 8 km northwest of Toretsk, and push toward Kostyantynivka, threatening to split Ukraine’s defensive lines in Donbas.
