by Sergey Adamov
[REGNUM] Russian army units are building on their previous successes, inflicting defeats on the Ukrainian Armed Forces in Donbass. Combat operations continue on several sections of the front in the DPR, where the enemy is surrendering one settlement after another.
Russian troops continue to push back the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Pokrovsk direction, advancing toward Mirnograd. On Monday, October 7, it became known that the settlement of Grodovka, which had been fought for in recent weeks, had been liberated.
The information about the liberation of the settlement was confirmed by the Russian Ministry of Defense.
Previously, the Ukrainian Armed Forces command planned to hold the defense of Pokrovsk along the Selidovo-Novgrodovka-Krasny Yar-Grodovka line. However, Russian troops consistently broke through the enemy's defense front in several places, destroying the plans of the Ukrainian army command.
The liberation of Grodovka opens a direct road to Mirnograd, a satellite of Pokrovsk, forming a single agglomeration with it. However, there are other options for developing the offensive, note front-line sources of the Regnum news agency.
According to local reports, the Ukrainian army is preparing the Pokrovsk agglomeration for protracted urban battles. The city streets are blocked with minefields and "dragon's teeth". Fire points and defense nodes are being created in the development and especially in the city's industrial zone. Therefore, immediately before storming the city, Russian troops may conduct a series of operations to disrupt the enemy's logistics.
"There remains an important highway connecting Pokrovsk - Mirnograd and Konstantinovka. In fact, these are now the two main defensive hubs. The road is held by the pretty battered 47th brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. No one will rush into the fortified buildings without preparation," the source of the publication says.
Engineering units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine continue to fortify the industrial zone of Pokrovsk, including the buildings of the machine-building and Pokrovsk silica plants. In Mirnograd, work is underway to transform the urban development into a fortified area.
The Ukrainian army command is preparing to resort once again to its eternal tactic: to prolong military operations at any cost. This is the conclusion reached by journalists from The New York Times, among others. The publication recalls that in recent months the Ukrainian Armed Forces have lost control over a number of cities, including Maryinka, Avdiivka and Vuhledar, where the Ukrainian military tried to hold on at any cost.
At the same time, journalists insist that the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ refusal to attempt a counterattack should not be perceived as “the beginning of a military defeat,” since Ukrainian troops are pursuing the goal of exhausting the Russian army by surrendering territory.
At the same time, the NYT authors wonder: how far will Ukrainian troops have to give in before the Russian army is exhausted? So far, this highly controversial strategy has only led to new losses for Kyiv.
THE MOP UP CONTINUES
The Russian army's offensive continues south of Pokrovsk. Earlier, the Ministry of Defense reported that units of the Southern Group of Forces had liberated the settlement of Zhelannoye Vtoroye east of the settlement of Gornyak.
Russian troops were also able to advance in the direction of Tsukurino. The Ukrainian Armed Forces still control the area of the local poultry farm, around which a defensive area has been formed. Its complete cleansing will allow Russian troops to proceed to the assault on a large enemy "fortification" in the area of the villages of Gornyak and Kurakhovka, sources of the Regnum news agency report.
"The main supply route for the Ukrainian Armed Forces in this area, the road to Kurakhovo, has already been cut off, now they still have dirt roads to communicate with the main forces. But, most likely, they will have to retreat from there too," the source predicts.
The advance of Russian troops on this section of the front is also acknowledged by the Ukrainian resource Deep State. Its authors noted the complete loss of control of the Ukrainian Armed Forces over Krasnogorovka, as well as the advance of the Russian army in the area of Gornyak, Tsukurino and the village of Lyubimovka.
THE SOUTHERN FRONT IS ON THE MOVE
The situation on the southern front in Donbass is not the best for the Ukrainian Armed Forces. After the liberation of Ugledar, the Russian army is developing an offensive in this direction - there are practically no large settlements left under enemy control.
According to information from the field, the offensive is developing from Ugledar to the north - in the direction of the Kurakhovskoye Reservoir and the settlement of Kurakhovo, towards the units of the Southern Group, which is operating from the settlement of Gornyak.
The configuration of the front in this area is developing in such a way that the Ukrainian Armed Forces will have to leave a large area of territory in the near future, sources of the Regnum news agency note.
"The entire Ugledar region is a plain, literally like a table. Whoever controls the city, controls the region. Now they are trying to put together a defense near Kurakhovo, but here the initiative has already passed to us," a source in the Ugledar region tells the publication.
The situation is developing similarly to the west, in the area of Velyka Novosyolka. According to reports from the field, the settlement of Zolotaya Niva has come under the control of the Russian army. After the liberation of Ugledar, Velyka Novosyolka remains the last major defense node on the border between the DPR and the Zaporizhia region.
NEXT IS THE ZAPORIZHIA REGION
The developing situation is forcing Kyiv to feverishly revise its strategy. On the eve, satellite images appeared on the Internet indicating the construction of new lines of defense on several sections of the front at once.
In addition to the fortifications being built in the Pokrovsk area, the Ukrainian army command is planning to defend new sections of the front in regions not previously affected by military action.
It is noted that if the Ukrainian Armed Forces lose control over Pokrovsk, a direct road to the Dnipropetrovsk region will open up for Russian troops. At the same time, successes in the Ugledar area create preconditions for the liberation of the Zaporizhzhya region.
New fortifications are being created along the M30 highway from Pokrovsk to Pavlograd and the road from Kurakhovo to Pokrovskoe. Western analysts are inclined to consider the measures taken by Kiev as preparations by the Ukrainian Armed Forces for a gradual retreat from eastern Donbass.
It was previously assumed that the Ukrainian Armed Forces could attempt a counteroffensive on the Zaporizhzhya section of the front. Now, when the enemy command adheres to the tactics of "exchange of territories for a time", there are fewer and fewer opportunities for counterattacks. However, no one in Ukraine is talking about them anymore, continuing to monitor the loss of Donbass.