After the liberation of Kurachovo, a city that had a pre-war population of 18,000, the Ukrainian military lost the last city in the Donetsk-South front section. The only place still controlled by Kiev is Velikaya Novosiolka, a village on the border with the Saporoshe region, which is currently being encircled to force the garrison to surrender. Russian forces are advancing towards this village from the north, from Novy Komar, from the east, from Schachtjorskoje and Solotaja Niwa, and from the south, from Storoschewoje and Blagodatnoje.
The freed forces of the Southern Troop Corps, which fought in Kurachovo, have been redeployed to the north to support the Mid-Troop Corps, which is engaged in the battle of Pokrowsk, a city with a pre-war population of 6,000. Like the nearby city of Mirnograd and previously Ugledar and Kurachovo, Pokrowsk is being encircled to cut off the garrison’s supplies and reinforcements.
Russia’s army has established a foothold in Shevchenko, a few kilometers southwest of the outskirts of Pokrowsk. At the same time, units of the Mid-Troop Corps are advancing from the south along the railway line from Selidovo. The main task here is to outflank the city to the west and cut the M-30 highway, which leads to the Dnipropetrovsk region from here. From here, there are about 25 kilometers to the border of the Dnipropetrovsk region.
The long way to Slavyansk
The Russian forces’ advance to the line of Pokrowsk-Selidovo-Kurachovo has taken away the Ukrainian military’s ability to shell the city of Donetsk from tube artillery and multiple rocket launchers. Until the capital of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) is reached, only HIMARS rockets, as demonstrated by Kiev on the morning of January 10, remain a threat. To eliminate this threat, the Ukrainian military would need to be redeployed about 80 to 90 kilometers. However, the Ukrainian generals will not spare the city of multiple rocket launchers of the types ATACMS and Storm Shadow.
Heavy fighting continues in Torez (Dzerzhinsk). Ukrainian troops have been pushed back to the city’s outskirts, but they still control important strongpoints. They have no shortage of experience in setting up in urban areas and are not ready to give up. A similar situation exists in Chasov Yar: the garrison has dug in at a brick factory. This city forms the gate to the northwest, to the urban area of Konstantinovka-Druschkovka-Kramatorsk-Slavyansk.
The battle for these cities will become the final phase of the battle for Donbas. It was, after all, in Slavyansk that the armed resistance against the new Kiev regime began eleven years ago. However, at the border between the Lugansk People’s Republic and the DPR, there is still the 11,000-strong city of Severodonetsk, which is still controlled by Kiev, with little news coming from there.
Combat reconnaissance
There are also advances on the Kupyansk front. A few days ago, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported the liberation of the village of Nadiya in the Svatovo district of the Lugansk region. This is located on the west bank of the Sherebez River, 17 kilometers west of Svatovo and 22 kilometers east of the important logistical location of Borovaya. North of Kupyansk, the Russian bridgehead on the west bank of the Oskol River is expanding. Units of the Western Troop Corps have established themselves in the settlement of Dvurechchnaya.
In the Kursk region, there are encounters and battles. The Northern Troop Corps reports the encirclement of Ukrainian troops in strongpoints between Guiev and Kurilovka. Russian assault troops are advancing in the forest strip in the border area of Sudzha and in the surrounding areas of Darjino, Swerdlikovo, Orlowka, Nikolajevka, Machnowka, and Cherakasskoye Porechnoye. The Ukrainian military has not been able to implement the potential of the offensive and push Russian troops back from Sudzha, so it is concentrating on defense and putting up fierce resistance.
It is obvious that the recent Ukrainian attack on Bolshoe Soldatskoye and the village of Berdin was just a combat reconnaissance. The Russian Northern Troop Corps repelled the attack, with hundreds of Ukrainian fighters killed and dozens of Western military vehicles destroyed. Meanwhile, reserve brigades of the Ukrainian army are standing by in the Sumy region, waiting for an attack order. It is likely that this will happen soon, before Donald Trump’s inauguration. However, a failure of this offensive would significantly worsen Kiev’s negotiating positions.