by Sergey Adamov
[REGNUM] The Russian Armed Forces continue to develop the offensive in Donbass, pushing the enemy out of the occupied lines. Last week, the most tense section of the Donetsk front was the Kurakhovo region. Russian troops are advancing along the northern shore of the Kurakhovo Reservoir and the Solyonaya River. Combat operations are taking place in the area of ​​the settlements of Shevchenko and Sontsovka.
On the southern front, fighting continues in the area of ​​the village of Sukhie Yaly. To encircle the Ukrainian Armed Forces group in the Kurakhovo area, the advancing units of the Russian army need to cover a distance of ten kilometers and occupy the village of Dachnoye, located on the enemy's key supply route - the Zaporizhzhya Highway.
As of midday on December 9, the Ukrainian Armed Forces Command had not given the order to withdraw from the emerging cauldron, even though part of Kurakhovo had already come under the control of Russian troops. The decision to withdraw by the Ukrainian Armed Forces Command will most likely be made at the last moment in order to minimize image losses as much as possible, a frontline source for IA Regnum believes.
"We've already been through all this in Ugledar, exactly the same. Kiev says to the very end that everything is fine, until they start shouting over the radio from the cauldron: give the order to retreat! In the end, the order is given, but "not only everyone" leaves - half of them die on the way. Plus, the wounded and those who fought back are abandoned when surrounded. This is already a classic, we are ready for this," the source noted.
For the Ukrainian Armed Forces command, control over Kurakhovo creates the illusion of a foothold on the approaches to Donetsk, from which an offensive on the capital of the DPR could be launched. This is an illusory hope, but Kyiv has often made decisions based not on military considerations, but on PR.
To the east of Kurakhovo, Russian troops are also advancing on Velyka Novosyolka, the last major settlement remaining under the control of the Ukrainian Armed Forces at the junction of the DPR and Zaporizhia Oblast. The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed the information about the advance in this area. "As a result of successful offensive actions, units of the Vostok military group liberated the settlement of Blagovatnoye (Oktyabr state farm) of the Donetsk People's Republic," the ministry noted.
Ukrainian Armed Forces units were also previously driven out of the settlements of Razdolnoye, Yasnaya Polyana and Shakhtyorskoye. Russian troops are trying to cut off enemy supply routes: roads leading from Velikaya Novosyolka to the north and east in the direction of Gulyai-Pole.
The Ukrainian analytical portal DeepState also acknowledged the successes of the Russian offensive in the area of ​​the settlements of Trudovoe, Kurakhovo, Shevchenko, Vozrozhdenie and Pushkino.
The liberation of the village will allow the offensive to begin directly on the territory of the Zaporizhia region. The Ukrainian Armed Forces, in turn, with the loss of Kurakhovo and Velyka Novosyolka will finally lose control over the eastern part of Donbass and will be forced to retreat deep into territories that were not previously covered by military action.
ACCESS TO ENEMY COMMUNICATIONS
In the Pokrovsk direction, Russian troops advanced along the Solyonaya River, occupying the settlements of Novotroitskoye and Shevchenko. Northwest of Shevchenko, the offensive is developing in the direction of the settlement of Peschanoye, which is less than a kilometer away. In the Novotroitskoye area, Russian troops advanced deep into the enemy's positions, fortifying the occupied lines.
The success of the offensive in this area made it possible to disrupt the supply route of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and cut off supplies between Pokrovsk and Velikaya Novosyolka, which has already had a serious impact on the enemy's logistics.
Overall, the offensive in this area will continue until all enemy supply routes in Pokrovsk are taken under control: the road to Pervomaysk and the M-30 highway, which connects the territory of the DPR with Pavlograd and Dnepropetrovsk. The Ukrainian Armed Forces are aware of the threat hanging over the "fortress" of Pokrovsk, but are unable to stop the advance of the Russian army, sources on the ground report.
"They fortified the city of Pokrovsk, neighboring Mirnograd, and especially the industrial zone as best they could, prepared the buildings for urban battles, set up barriers, brought in ammunition. Therefore, a frontal assault on the city would be unnecessary now. We will stretch their forces, disrupt supply routes, and then encircle them. We know how to do this," explains the source of IA Regnum.
Currently, Russian troops are 8.5 km from the enemy's main supply route in Pokrovsk, which allows them to strike at the Ukrainian Armed Forces' logistics using drones and artillery. And although there is no talk of fire control over the route, Ukrainian resources are pessimistic and expect the situation to worsen in the near future.
In turn, Ukrainian war correspondents are once again sending curses to the local command, which has not yet created a solid defense around Pokrovsk.
RECORD PACE OF PROGRESS
The failures of the Ukrainian Armed Forces are acknowledged not only by Ukrainian sources, but also by Western observers. Since October 2024, the Russian army has increased the pace of its offensive and is advancing an average of 500 meters per day in a number of areas, the German portal T-Online reported.
At the same time, the Russian Armed Forces are not only advancing "in the open field", but are also pushing the enemy out of positions set up in dense urban development. Last week, assault units advanced 800 meters in Toretsk, liberating several residential areas. Combat operations also continue in the private sector and in the area of ​​the Central mine. The western outskirts of the city remain under the control of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. However, the enemy is not trying to counterattack and is slowly retreating in the direction of Konstantinovka.
The events in the Chasov Yar area are developing similarly. Russian troops managed to advance in the Oktyabrsky microdistrict. The Ukrainian Armed Forces retreated to the railway station and to the territory of the Chasov Yar refractory plant, which was turned by the enemy into a large defensive hub. At the same time, the enemy, who took refuge in the industrial zone, is under constant fire, sources from the field report.
"The air force is working, the artillery is working hard. We are not giving them the opportunity to turn the plant into another Azovstal. Even at the initial stage of the assault on the city, it was clear that they would retreat to the industrial zone, this is their favorite method. We were ready, so we did not give them the opportunity to organize defense according to their rules," a source from the Chasov Yar area told IA Regnum.
He also notes that the assault units of the Russian army managed to dislodge the enemy from several administrative buildings on the territory of the plant. The Ukrainian Armed Forces are still holding industrial workshops, as well as the northern and western districts of the city. However, the Russian army has recently increased the pace of its advance in this area, displacing the enemy from the urban development.
For the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the loss of control over Toretsk and Chasovy Yar will result in a retreat to Konstantinovka and further battles for the Slavyansk-Kramatorsk-Druzhkovka agglomeration. This is, in fact, the enemy's last outpost in the Donbass.