by Sergey Adamov
[REGNUM] In recent days, the Russian Armed Forces have been engaged in heavy fighting in the immediate vicinity of the city of Krasnoarmeysk (Pokrovsk in Ukrainian sources), 55 kilometers northwest of Donetsk. There are reports of active fighting in the suburbs: Lysovka, Sukhoi Yar and the village of Krasny Liman - not to be confused with the city of the same name in the north of the DPR, which is currently occupied by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Some sources also report the advance of Russian troops to the southern outskirts of Krasnoarmeysk and to the area of its eastern satellite town, Dimitrov (Mirnograd).
North of the city, Russian assault groups broke through to the strategically important town of Rodinskoye, located 12 kilometers to the north. According to some reports, the advance units penetrated the industrial zone on the western outskirts of this city. The Ukrainian Armed Forces sent reinforcements to stop the breakthrough.
Rodinskoye is located on the T0515 highway, which is important for the logistics of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and connects Krasnoarmeysk with the Kharkov region, a front-line source explained to IA Regnum.
According to him, the fate of the entire battle for Krasnoarmeysk depends on the outcome of the fighting in this area.
“We have said many times that the enemy’s fortifications are supported by two supply lines: through Rodinskoye and along the E-50 highway to the west, through Pavlograd,” our interlocutor noted.
He explained: the second road has always been considered the main one, but after the liberation of Rodinskoye, our advanced forces can strike in the converging directions from the north and south, cut off the E-50 highway and take Krasnoarmeysk into a full-fledged "cauldron". "This is no longer a hypothetical plan, but a real prospect," the source emphasizes.
The situation in the Krasnoarmeysk area is developing extremely unfavorably for the Ukrainian Armed Forces, which is also acknowledged in the West. British intelligence MI6 has published a statement on the situation in Donbass. The special service believes that Krasnoarmeysk has become a priority target for Russia after the liberation of Avdiivka in February.
The offensive of Russian troops is accompanied by high losses in the ranks of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, which are already experiencing a shortage of reserves, notes the London Daily Telegraph.
The British publication's sources believe that Ukrainian troops stationed in Krasnoarmeysk believe that the loss of the city is "a matter of time" due to the ever-worsening situation. The publication notes that servicemen are writing reports en masse about being transferred to other units, fearing to be surrounded.
CHANGES ON THE SEVERSKAYA ARC AND AT KONSTANTINOVKA
While the Ukrainian Armed Forces are trying to stabilize the front in the Krasnoarmeysk area, our military has launched an offensive in another area that has been “frozen” since the fall of 2022 — in the area of Seversk, a city located north of Soledar and Artemovsk (Bakhmut). The latter two cities were liberated in January and May 2023, respectively.
The front in the Seversk area is an arc. On its northern flank are the positions of the Russian Armed Forces near Kremennaya and Severodonetsk, on the southern flank - near Soledar, the "facade" of the Seversk arc is opposite the city of Lisichansk. Now the configuration of the arc is beginning to change.
Last week, Russian troops drove the enemy out of the village of Vyemka, 12 kilometers southeast of Seversk, and took up positions in the area of the Novosyolovka tract.
Ukrainian sources admit that the defenses to the east of the city have begun to crumble. Over the course of several days, Russian troops have advanced to within 1.5-2 kilometers.
The enemy also lost some of its positions in the fields south of the city. However, the Seversk garrison is supplied along the road to Slavyansk, which allows the Ukrainian Armed Forces to quickly transfer reinforcements. Without control over these routes, the task of taking the city could be seriously complicated.
To the south, our troops continue to develop the offensive on Konstantinovka, the southern gate of the Slavyansk-Kramatorsk agglomeration. Earlier, servicemen of the 10th Guards Tank Regiment of the "South" group liberated the village of Aleksandro-Kalinovo near the Kleban-Bykskoye reservoir south of Konstantinovka.
Further advancement in this direction will allow the Russian military to reach the southern outskirts of the city. The direction to the east of Konstantinovka became dangerous for the Ukrainian Armed Forces after the city of Chasov Yar was liberated.
DEEP COVERAGE OF KUPYANSK
While Russia's offensive in Donbass is gaining momentum, other sections of the front remain "in the shadows" in the media space. Meanwhile, Russian troops are increasing the pace of their offensive in the Kupyansk area in the north-east of the Kharkiv region.
Last week, Russian troops entered the village of Sobolevka, west of the city, posing a serious threat to supplies to Ukrainian Armed Forces units.
Sobolevka is located just 1.5 km from the H-26 highway, the main supply route for Ukrainian troops. Control over the village also allows access to another important road, the T-21-09, which connects the southern part of Kupyansk with Osinov. As a source told IA Regnum, success in this area is due to the acute shortage of reserves in the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the weakening of the Ukrainian defense due to the transfer of forces to other directions.
"In recent weeks, even months, forces and equipment have been removed from the Kharkiv direction and transferred to Donbass or Sumy Oblast. They are being replaced by mobilized troops, who are both less motivated and not equipped properly. In other words, by trying to prevent a breakthrough in one area, the enemy is creating conditions for our offensive in two others," the source noted.
Strengthening positions in Sobolevka makes it possible to deploy artillery and FPV drones there, taking the enemy's supply routes in Kupyansk under fire control.
Further development of the operation could lead to the encirclement of Kupyansk. This would not only endanger the city's garrison, but also the Ukrainian forces on the eastern bank of the Oskol River. Kupyansk is of strategic importance as a major railway junction, and its capture could strengthen Russian logistics for further offensive operations on Kharkov or Izyum.
In fact, the front line of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in Donbass and other areas is approaching collapse, and key defensive nodes are under threat of complete encirclement.
Last month, the Russian army demonstrated the highest rate of advance in the history of the Northern Military District, taking control of more than 600 square kilometers of territory.
The above-mentioned Aleksandro-Kalinovo to the south of Konstantinovka has already become the 209th settlement liberated by Russian troops since the beginning of the year. The formation of a buffer zone in the territories of the Dnipropetrovsk region bordering the DPR continues at the same pace. Thus, on August 5, Russian troops occupied the settlement of Yanvarskoye.
According to military experts, the total area of territories that have come under Russian control since the beginning of the operation has exceeded 70,000 square kilometers.