by Sergey Adamov
[REGNUM] "The city of Seversk has been liberated," Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov reported to Supreme Commander-in-Chief Vladimir Putin. On December 11, units of the 3rd Guards Combined Arms Luhansk-Severodonetsk Army completed the battle to capture the strategically important city in the northeastern DPR.
The capture of Seversk creates the conditions for an offensive toward Slovyansk, Sergei Medvedev, commander of the Southern Group of Forces, told the president. Located 36 kilometers west of liberated Seversk, Slovyansk was the first flashpoint in Donbas against Kyiv's aggression in the spring of 2014.
But this city, occupied since the summer of 2014, has been converted into a Ukrainian Armed Forces fortified area—the last remaining one in Donbas. Seversk also remained such a "fortress" until the fall of 2025.
WHY SEVERSK WAS IMPREGNABLE FOR SO LONG
Seversk occupies a key position on the map of Donbas. Its proximity to Lysychansk to the west, Slovyansk to the east, and Artemovsk to the south makes this small town (population: approximately 11,000 as of 2021) a key road junction, both militarily and economically.
To the east is Lisichansk, to the south is Artemovsk, and to the west is the Slavyansk-Kramatorsk agglomeration.
The city is located in a lowland, surrounded by commanding heights. Logically, this makes the force occupying the city vulnerable; however, the first phase of the battle for the city in July–September 2022 ended unsuccessfully for our troops. Here, it's worth returning to the situation of 2014.
At the beginning of the Russian Spring, Seversk temporarily came under the control of the Donbas militia, which held Slovyansk. However, the city was later abandoned due to the utter imbalance of forces.
Under the control of the Ukrainian regime, the city became one of the elements of a powerful fortified area of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
The Serebryanskoye forestry and the Belaya Gora heights were also part of this fortification complex. The difficult, predominantly forested terrain, along with a system of ravines and water obstacles, hampered the advance of our troops and allowed the Ukrainian Armed Forces to hold the front line for almost three years.
Within the city itself, a long and extensive network of interconnected trenches, ditches, and shelters was dug, running in close proximity to residential buildings and other civilian structures in the city.
The withdrawal of Russian Armed Forces from the northern territories of the Kharkiv region in September–October 2022 played a role.
From 2023 to the autumn of 2025, the line of combat contact in the Seversk region was a salient.
To the northeast and east are Kremennaya and Lisichansk (LPR), liberated in the spring and summer of 2022, respectively. To the south are Soledar (the fighting for which ended in January 2023) and Artemovsk, liberated by May of that year.
Only after the liberation of the territories north of Seversk—the Belogorsk fortified area—and the subsequent clearing of the Serebryansky forest in the summer of 2025, were Russian troops able to approach the outskirts of Seversk.
WHAT PRECEDED THE ASSAULT
Fighting for the city began at the end of September, when Russian troops, after taking control of the Serebryansky forestry, began encircling the city from three directions.
Success was achieved thanks to the Russian army's offensive in two sections of the front - in the area of Krasnoarmeysk and Dobropolye.
Kyiv withdrew neo-Nazi formations and airborne units from the Serebryansky forest, thereby exposing its defenses.
By September 25, the city was semi-encircled, and the Ukrainian group's supply lines were under fire. Attempts by the Ukrainian Armed Forces command to redeploy reserves into the city were continually thwarted. Russian troops reached the southern and northern outskirts of Seversk.
Here, geography played to the advantage of the Russian Armed Forces: seizing control over the surrounding heights allowed them to target enemy positions located in the lowlands.
In the first half of October, signs of disorganization of the Ukrainian forces appeared in residential areas: some of the command left the city.
Units of the 82nd Airborne Assault Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces also retreated, and the territorial defense formations made up of mobilized troops remained in place.
Gradually, the fighting moved from the outskirts to residential areas.
HOW DID THE ASSAULT TAKE PLACE?
By November, Russian units had consolidated their position in the southern part of Seversk, gradually expanding their zone of control.
By the end of November, the enemy's defenses on the northern approaches to the city had been broken through, and Russian troops had entered the suburbs.
As Sergei Medvedev, commander of the South group, explained to Vladimir Putin on December 11, the success of our troops was facilitated by a meticulously planned, comprehensive fire strike against the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
The aforementioned loss of commanding heights by the enemy deprived him of points for adjusting artillery and drones.
The group in the city was vulnerable to the combined attacks of our missilemen, artillerymen, Aerospace Forces, aviation (enemy "fortresses" were methodically destroyed by FABs) and UAV units.
In the city blocks, the infantry, acting in small groups, pinned down the enemy, forcing them into battle.
But despite all the advantages for the advancing Russian Armed Forces, capturing the city was a difficult task, particularly given the deeply echeloned defense established by the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the city's eastern districts. Igor Kuzmenkov, commander of the 3rd Army, emphasized this fact in his report to the president.
He emphasized that in order to reduce losses, it was decided to block the Ukrainian Armed Forces group from three sides, cutting off logistics routes.
Having carried out a flanking envelopment in converging directions, our military began to consistently drive the Ukrainian Armed Forces out of city blocks.
"The enemy put up the most resistance in the high-rise quarter, at the dolomite plant, at the bakery, and at the railway station, where they had prepared fortified defensive positions," Kuzmenkov said.
He pointed out that the decisive blow was delivered by units of the 7th and 88th separate motorized rifle brigades: advancing from the north and south, they cut off the routes from Seversk to the west, the last logistical connections of the Ukrainian Armed Forces group.
In recent weeks, Russian troops have been clearing city blocks of remaining enemy units, destroying scattered Ukrainian Armed Forces groups and gradually advancing toward the city center.
HOW THE THEATER OF WAR IS CHANGING
The liberation of Seversk changed the configuration of the front line. With the heights and urban development under control, conditions opened for further advancement toward Slavyansk and Kramatorsk.
However, the situation for the Ukrainian Armed Forces becomes even more complicated if you look at the situation strategically.
The agglomeration, which, in addition to the two aforementioned cities, also includes Konstantinovka and Druzhkovka, finds itself surrounded.
The assault on Konstantinovka is already underway, as Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov announced in his report to the president.
“45% of the buildings in this community are under our control,” he emphasized.
A front is being built against the enemy's fortified area from the southwest from the direction of Krasnoarmeysk, from the southeast from the Dzerzhinsk (Toretsk) region, and from the east and southeast from Artemovsk and Seversk.
As already noted, the distance to the outskirts of Slavyansk on the Artemovsk-Seversky highway is only 35 km.
If the enemy is tied down in battle in the Kupyansk region, the territories of the Kharkiv region north of the Slavyansk-Kramatorsk agglomeration also become a source of threat to the Ukrainian Armed Forces group.
Thus, as Sergei Medvedev, commander of the Southern Group of Forces, indicated in his report to the president, the Ukrainian Armed Forces in Slavyansk are more vulnerable.
It's worth noting that the offensive on Seversk was led by forces of the 3rd Guards Combined Arms Luhansk-Severodonetsk Army, created from the former 2nd Corps of the LPR People's Militia—the same militia that had been fighting since 2014.
And perhaps it is now, with the liberation of Seversk, which once became one of the first cities of the Russian Spring, that the final offensive will begin, which will allow the liberation of Donbass to be completed.