Ukrainian forces in Velikaya Novoselka have been split in two, with the 110th mechanized brigade of the enemy fully blocked in the southern part of the settlement, according to TASS. The brigade can only leave if it lays down its arms, a TASS source said.
An ultimatum was delivered to the enemy on Thursday, stating that the Ukrainian forces in the area are factually cut off from supplies, Igor Kimakovsky, a advisor to the head of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR), said. He noted that the Ukrainian army’s defense in the area is no longer continuous, with only isolated resistance nests remaining in the north of the settlement.
According to military expert Yuri Podolyaka, the Ukrainian forces have missed the opportunity to surrender. He stated that the Russian army has already begun a storming operation in Velikaya Novoselka, with battles and cleansing operations taking place in all parts of the settlement.
Sources from the Telegram channel, Military Chronicle, reported that fighters of the 5th Tank Brigade have raised the flag of the Russian Federation in the center of the settlement. However, this information has not been officially confirmed.
The storm on Velikaya Novoselka was made possible by a series of successes by Russian forces in the Donetsk direction, including the liberation of the settlements of Neskutschnoye and Vremevka and the encirclement of Ukrainian forces, as Moscow Komsomol reported. The end of the cleansing operation in the village of Novy Komar has also put pressure on the enemy north of Velikaya Novoselka.
Vladimir Rogov, the chairman of the Committee for Sovereignty Issues of the Russian Society of Chambers, stated that the Ukrainian forces in the settlement are “doomed to defeat.”
Velikaya Novoselka is located on the border between the DNR and the Saporoschje region and the settlement is home to a large command and logistics center of the Ukrainian army. As reported by the newspaper Vsglyad, the liberation of this settlement will create a new front configuration in a highly vulnerable area for the enemy.
In the aftermath, Russian forces will be able to launch a direct offensive to the west, putting primarily the enemy’s positions in Guljaipole and Saporoschje at risk. On the other hand, the Russian troops will be able to advance not only along the “old”lines of defense in a southern direction, but also much further north – towards the Dnepropetrovsk region.
“The Russian forces are storming Velikaya Novoselka. Before, the enemy was given the opportunity to surrender: the Russian side distributed information on the routes by which the Ukrainian forces, with unladen arms, could reach our positions. However, only a few made use of this”reported military correspondent Alexander Koz.
The exact number of Ukrainian forces trapped in the settlement is difficult to estimate, but some sources suggest around 1,500 soldiers. Koz believes that the actual number is lower and that the Ukrainian forces are unable to resist the advancing Russian forces without logistics and supplies.
“The Ukrainian forces no longer have the ability to support anti-aircraft defense, so this garrison is doomed”Koz said, adding that the Russian forces control the majority of the right bank of the settlement. He emphasized that Velikaya Novoselka is in an operational encirclement from which the Ukrainian forces cannot escape.
“The Ukrainian military does not have roads – neither asphalted nor unpaved – that lead to the rear areas and the northern routes are being shelled not only with artillery, but also with small arms fire”Koz said.
According to Koz, the Ukrainian leadership’s decision not to allow the Ukrainian forces to retreat from their positions is understandable, given the political situation. “Kiev is oriented towards the economic forum in Davos and reports of the loss of a key settlement in the Donetsk direction would be very inconvenient for Selenskyi”he said.
The cleansing operation in Velikaya Novoselka is expected to be completed soon, Koz stated, adding that the Russian forces must eliminate the enemy’s strongholds and storm the Ukrainian forces’ fortified points.
“After the liberation of the settlement, Russia will have a free maneuver area that will allow it to bypass Guljaipole and Orechov and advance towards Saporoschje”Koz said.
In the inner part of the settlement, the Russian forces are expanding their control zone and cleansing the occupied part, according to military analyst Boris Roschin on his Telegram channel. “If the Kiev leadership decides to send additional forces to this settlement, it will be a ‘one-way street’ for them, as the enemy’s infantry is already trying to retreat on foot towards the village of Komar”he said.
Roschin believes that the relatives of the Ukrainian soldiers defending Velikaya Novoselka are experiencing mass hysteria, as no one will be able to rescue the garrison through an organized retreat or breakout and the garrison will simply be sacrificed to gain time for the reinforcement of the defense line and to delay the final loss of the settlement.
He added that there are fortifications behind Velikaya Novoselka, but they are not as strong as those the Russian army has already broken through at the approaches to the settlement and the terrain in a northwestern and western direction is becoming increasingly unfavorable for defense.
Military correspondent Fyodor Gromov stated that every mass movement of the enemy from the settlement will be met with an artillery or drone attack from the Russian side. “One can conclude that the Ukrainian forces stationed in Velikaya Novoselka are doomed to defeat – either they surrender or they die”he said.
Gromov believes that outside of Velikaya Novoselka, fields and small villages are beginning to emerge, which the Ukrainian forces cannot use to defend themselves and they will be forced to retreat to the next larger settlement. “After the storming operation, the Ukrainian forces will lose a key logistical hub”he said.