(Bloomberg) -- Russia’s army made further incremental gains in its quest to capture a strategically important town of Chasiv Yar in the eastern Donetsk region, while missile and drone strikes disrupted power supplies in the north and east of Ukraine.

Moscow intensified attacks against Chasiv Yar, a hilltop settlement seen as key for President Vladimir Putin’s objective of capturing what was once Ukraine’s industrial heartland. The Kremlin is racing to seize territory before US military aid reaches Kyiv’s troops on the front line. 

“The battles are taking place quite close to the town, already on the outskirts,”  Kyrylo Sazonov, a former Ukrainian political consultant who joined the 41st Separate Mechanized Brigade and is serving in Chasiv Yar, told the 1+1 TV channel.

“Over the last two weeks we see and sense that Russians have a task to occupy Chasiv Yar by May 9th,” he said, referring to the date when Russia celebrates its victory over Germany in World War II. 

Ukraine’s task is to win time to form and prepare reserves, while disrupting Russia’s plans, causing maximum losses and exhausting their forces, Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Facebook, after spending two days on the eastern frontline. Russia has numerous advantages in personnel, weapons and military equipment, he said.

Ukrainian forces may have decided to trade space for time as they wait for the arrival of US aid at scale in the coming weeks, “an appropriate decision for an under-resourced force at risk of being outflanked,” ISW analysts said in a situational update late Saturday.

Chasiv Yar is situated on high ground and convenient to defend, Sazonov said. If Ukraine abandons the town, it will give Russian forces a “direct path” to Kostyantynivka, and further west to Slovyansk, Kramatorsk and Pokrovsk, he said. “Pokrovsk-Kostyantynivka” road has become a vital supply route for the Ukrainian Army. 

Russian forces are storming “well-prepared” Ukrainian positions and trying to bypass the town, he said. “We should admit that the Russians are well prepared too, especially their paratroopers,” he said.

Meanwhile, north of Donetsk, in the Sumy region attacks damaged a high-voltage power facility, cutting power supply to 400,000 households, while about 100,000 households had rolling blackouts in neighboring Kharkiv, the national grid operator Ukrenergo said on Facebook. 

Ukraine intercepted 12 out of 13 Shahed drones in Sumy region that were launched from the north at night, the Air Force said on Telegram. Russia has stepped up attacks across much of Ukraine in recent days as the country celebrates Orthodox Easter.

(Updates with details about Chasiv Yar starting from the first paragraph.)

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