by Sergey Adamov
[REGNUM] While the world is watching the first steps of the new US administration led by Donald Trump, who had previously promised to stop the conflict in Ukraine within 24 hours, fighting in the SVO zone continues. The sides are exchanging missile strikes, using drones and artillery to attack in the rear.
The fighting along the front line from Kupyansk to the Zaporizhia region continues unabated. At the same time, the most tense section of the front remains Donbass, where Russian troops have launched a new offensive operation.
On Friday, January 17, fighting resumed in the Velikaya Novosyolka area. The Russian Armed Forces crushed the enemy's defenses and took up positions on the outskirts of the settlement. During further fighting, the city was encircled.
Later, the successes in the Velikaya Novosyolka area were confirmed by the Russian Ministry of Defense.
According to the latest information, the Ukrainian Armed Forces units blocked in the city still have the opportunity to retreat north. It is also reported that the enemy is trying to force the Mokrye Yaly River in small groups and withdraw forces to the Zaporizhzhya and Dnipropetrovsk regions.
Units of the 110th Mechanized and Separate Presidential Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine remain in the city.
At the same time, units of the Russian army are not allowing the enemy to retreat in an organized manner, a front-line source for the Regnum news agency reports.
"Until the very end, we were putting a lid on this cauldron, pushing the enemy. But Kiev did not give the order to retreat. Now, when it was too late to jerk around, we began to retreat under continuous fire, suffering heavy losses. Like in Ugledar before - and many other places. This is a chronic learning disability," the source noted.
The situation is complicated for the enemy by the fact that the borders of the DPR, Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhia regions converge in the area of Velyka Novosyolka. At the same time, the Ukrainian Armed Forces command apparently did not prepare plans in case of a retreat from the village, so reserve defensive lines began to be built only in the last few weeks.
The trenches are being dug literally in an open field, since there are no large settlements and/or industrial zones in this area where Ukrainian troops could gain a foothold.
The situation developing at the front creates opportunities for the Russian army to further advance into the territory of the Dnepropetrovsk region. Moreover, north of Velyka Novosyolka, the offensive continues in the Pokrovsk area.
THE UKRAINIAN ARMED FORCES ARE PREPARING TO RETREAT
Developing the offensive in the Pokrovsk direction, assault units of the Russian army were able to cut off the road from Pokrovsk to the territory of the neighboring region in the area of the village of Kotlino. It is also reported that the advancing troops are advancing in the area of Uspenovka and Novoyelyzavetovka. Thus, there are about five kilometers left to the administrative borders of the Dnepropetrovsk region.
For now, the highway between Pokrovsk and Pavlograd remains under the control of Ukrainian troops, but Kyiv is already preparing for a sharp deterioration in the situation on this section of the front.
According to information from the field, Ukrainian troops have begun preparing the defense of Pavlograd in case of a retreat from Pokrovsk. It is reported that the enemy is mining bridges on the approaches to the city and evacuating key city enterprises, and is building fortifications in the area of the Pavlograd Chemical Plant. Ammunition depots and long-term firing points are being created in the factory workshops.
In turn, the Russian Aerospace Forces are striking enemy targets in the city and its environs, since Pavlograd is home to the operational rear of the enemy group in Donbass.
It is important to note that Pavlograd is located only 62 kilometers from Dnepropetrovsk, the fourth largest city in Ukraine. The city is home to the largest Ukrainian defense enterprises and other strategic facilities. In this regard, some Western media predict that the Russian offensive will continue in the direction of Pokrovsk - Pavlograd - Dnepropetrovsk.
But frontline sources of the Regnum news agency are calling for not rushing things, since the enemy still holds control over part of Donbass.
"Nobody will go anywhere until Pokrovsk is completely blocked and liberated. There is a large enemy group in the city, it cannot be left in the rear. Now all our efforts are focused on disrupting the enemy's supply, encircling his forces and pushing them out of our land," the agency's source says.
According to reports from the ground, Russian troops are preparing to cut the E50 highway, which connects Pokrovsk with Dnepropetrovsk via Pervomaysk and Pavlograd.
And for the complete liberation of Donbass, another task must be solved: to drive the enemy out of the Slavyansk-Kramatorsk agglomeration, which the enemy, naturally, does not plan to surrender without a fight.
ROAD TO SLAVYANSK AND KRAMATORSK
Fighting continues in the eastern part of Donbass. Here, Russian troops are finishing the liberation of Chasov Yar, an offensive that has been going on for several months.
As a result of the successful actions of the assault groups, the territory of the Chasov Yar Refractory Plant, which is called the "Citadel" in frontline reports, was liberated. Sources of the Regnum news agency specify that this concerns the third and fifth workshops of the plant. Units of the "Yug" group also cleared the territory of the Chasov Yar railway station.
The enemy still controls the Yuzhny, Shevchenko and Levanevsky microdistricts in the southern part of the city, as well as the first and second workshops of the Chasov Yar plant - a total of about 40% of the city's territory. It is expected that the operation to liberate Chasov Yar will be completed in the near future, because the enemy has been driven out of the dense urban development.
The liberation of Chasov Yar opens the way to Konstantinovka and Druzhkovka, and then to Slavyansk and Kramatorsk. As they advance in the Pokrovsk area, Russian troops will be able to launch an offensive on Slavyansk from the west, blocking the enemy.
But to solve this problem, it is first necessary to liberate Pokrovsk and eliminate a large group of enemy forces.
At the same time, Kyiv has no time or resources left to try to seize the initiative: “elite” units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces are dying in the Kursk region.