August M
For more than a year and a half, Toretsk stood at the centre of a grinding battle that slowly erased the city from the map. What was once a busy mining town is now described as a wasteland of shattered buildings and empty streets.
As fighting subsided, reports emerged pointing to enormous losses and a prolonged struggle unmatched elsewhere along the front.
City reduced to rubble
According to Ziarre.com, citing Euromaidan Press, Russian forces have advanced into Toretsk in Ukraine’s Donetsk region and are believed to have fully occupied the city after roughly 18 months of combat.
Before the war, Toretsk was home to mines, factories, a brewery and a bakery, as well as schools, libraries, clinics, sports facilities and cultural centres. Today, little remains intact.
The General Staff of Ukraine has not mentioned Toretsk in its daily reports since November 2025, and Kyiv has not issued an official statement confirming the end of fighting in the city.
Slow advances confirmed
The DeepState monitoring project reported limited Russian advances near Toretsk and the nearby village of Stupochky on Feb. 2.
“The enemy advanced in the area of Stupociki and Toretsk,” military analysts said.
Earlier, Ukrainian Defence Forces were still holding fragments of residential areas, even as Russian troops controlled much of the city centre.
Holding the line
Since mid-July 2024, the 100th Mechanized Brigade, together with attached units, played a central role in defending Toretsk. By the time the brigade took up positions, Russian forces had already pushed into central districts.
Despite repeated assaults and constant pressure, Ukrainian units managed to stall further advances for months, according to information published by the brigade.
The unit said more than 10,000 Russian soldiers were killed during the fighting, with total Russian losses in the battle for Toretsk estimated at around 26,000 — among the highest tolls for a single city during Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Claims and denials
Throughout 2025, Kremlin-linked media repeatedly declared Toretsk “captured,” claims that Ukrainian authorities denied each time.
Even after heavy losses on the flanks and the renaming of the Toretsk axis to the Kostiantynivka direction, the 100th Mechanized Brigade continued to defend positions on the outskirts.
In total, the struggle for Toretsk became one of the longest and bloodiest battles of the war — a drawn-out confrontation for a city that ended in near-total destruction.
Sources: Ziarre.com, Euromaidan Press
