by Sergey Adamov
[REGNUM] "Units of the Center group of forces continue to destroy the encircled enemy in the city of Dimitrov and clear the village of Rodinskoye of scattered Ukrainian Armed Forces formations," the Russian Ministry of Defense said in a report published on December 24.
The final stage is the capture of control over two cities near the previously liberated Krasnoarmeysk: its satellite Dimitrov (in enemy terminology, Mirnograd) and Rodinsky, located nine kilometers to the north.
On December 18, Chief of the General Staff, Army General Valery Gerasimov, officially confirmed at a briefing for foreign military attachés that more than 50% of Dimitrov's urban development had come under the control of the Russian Armed Forces.
Gerasimov also noted that the enemy has deployed additional units to the Krasnoarmeysk-Dimitrov agglomeration, including strategic reserve forces from the Ukrainian Armed Forces and units from other directions. Attempts to relieve the Dimitrov pocket (for example, by breaking through from the southwest, from the village of Shevchenko) have been unsuccessful.
According to the latest information from the field, individual enemy groups continue to resist in the city of Dimitrov itself, with the fighting being largely localized.
"We've had sub-zero weather for the past few days. It's tough for the encircled air force there, as supplies are only available via drones, and there's no evacuation," a frontline source told Regnum news agency.
"You could say General Moroz came to our aid. In reality, though, it was simply the result of a lengthy operation to encircle and blockade the enemy's forces," our source added.
He estimates that the enemy has no way to break through the encirclement in Dimitrov, either from the inside or from the outside. However, such attempts are being made almost daily.
The dire situation facing the Ukrainian Armed Forces in Myrnohrad was also acknowledged by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. Roman Kostenko, Secretary of the Committee on National Security, Defense, and Intelligence, stated that Ukrainian troops were surrounded.
According to him, under these conditions, maneuverability within a limited area remains possible. However, the MP noted, supplies and logistics are significantly hampered.
ENEMY RETREAT
Amid ongoing fighting in the Krasnoarmeyskaya agglomeration, official Kyiv regime media have published footage of the enemy's new defensive line in the northern part of Donbas.
The video shows several levels of fortifications and anti-tank ditches, which are most likely reinforced with minefields.
Analysts studied the footage and concluded that the defensive line is being created 15 kilometers west and northwest of Krasnoarmeysk.
It was also noted that the first line of defense is being built closer to the city than previously planned. In the fall, it was expected that Kyiv, in preparation for the loss of the Krasnoarmeyskaya agglomeration, would establish a front line along the borders of the former Donetsk Oblast.
According to analysts, this line of defense is seen as a temporary measure to contain the advance of the Russian Armed Forces after the completion of the operation in Dimitrov.
At the same time, the new defensive line stretches for tens of kilometers, but may be vulnerable from the flanks.
But in any case, the construction of such positions at such a distance from the current front line may indicate that Kyiv has resigned itself to the loss of its defensive stronghold at Pokrovsk (as the enemy calls Krasnoarmeysk).
The withdrawal of the Ukrainian Armed Forces to these “pre-prepared positions” will mean that the Slavyansk-Kramatorsk agglomeration, the enemy’s last fortified stronghold in the Donbas, will come under attack.
SLAVYANSK IS GETTING CLOSER
Russian troops continue their assault on the southern part of the Slavyansk fortified area, advancing toward the town of Konstantinovka. The assault on the town is developing from the south and east.
Konstantinovka is a major industrial center with metallurgical, glass, and chemical plants, whose industrial zones have been converted into “fortresses” for the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Russian troops are striking at identified enemy fortified positions in the "industrial zone" while simultaneously advancing on the outskirts of the city.
Heavy fighting is reported to continue near the village of Stepanovka and on the approaches to the village of Berestok. Both settlements are located southwest of Konstantinovka, near the H20 highway leading to Dimitrov and Krasnoarmeysk.
North of Chasov Yar, Russian units drove the Ukrainian Armed Forces from fortified positions near the village of Minkovka (located on the M03 highway leading from Artemovsk to Slavyansk).
In the Seversk area, liberated by Russian troops on December 11, the advance of assault groups into the Ukrainian Armed Forces' defenses southeast of the city, along the line of the villages of Vasyukovka and Reznikovka, was recorded.
According to reports from the field, in some areas the depth of the breach reached four kilometers.
Further north, in the Krasnoliman direction, positional clashes continue along the Drobyshevo-Yarovaya line, northwest of the city of Krasny Liman.
Russian troops are advancing in the direction of the village of Borovaya (located on the banks of the Oskol River in the Izyum district of the Kharkiv region, not far from the LPR BORDER).
GULYAIPOLE: A TOUR OF THE MAKHNO MUSEUM
In parallel with the fighting in Donbas, assault units of the Russian army continue to advance in the Zaporizhzhia region.
Russian Armed Forces also continue their assault on the city of Gulyaipole, taking up new positions in high-rise buildings in the central districts.
According to available data, during the fighting in recent days, Ukrainian units have abandoned a number of positions in residential areas.
At the same time, pressure is being exerted on the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the southern part of the city, where they are gaining a foothold in the area of Kooperativnaya Street.
Vostok fighters are also moving towards the city center from the east, expanding their zone of control east of Mira Street.
On the western outskirts of the city, fighting continues in the Tsvetnoy microdistrict, where the enemy has established a defensive position in a dense multi-story building.
According to reports from the field, Russian troops have taken up positions at the intersection of Vishnevaya Street and Pologovsky Shlyakh, one of the city's key transport arteries.
It was reported that our military also occupied the building of the Nestor Makhno Museum, which the Ukrainian Armed Forces used as a field headquarters for the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Earlier, on December 19, a number of Ukrainian sources reported a difficult situation in the 102nd Territorial Defense Brigade.
Incidents of disciplinary violations are recorded here. Rank-and-file soldiers and officers generally lack complete information about the situation of neighboring units.
In the area of the village of Dobropolye, approximately 15 km north of Hulyaipole, units of the 110th separate mechanized brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces arrived at the front line.
The situation in Hulyaipole is so dire for the enemy that a separate presidential brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces has been dispatched to the city. Its units have been spotted north of the city.
Against the backdrop of fighting in the “capital of Batko Makhno,” the enemy is taking measures to strengthen certain sections of the front.
It has been reported that at least two assault groups from the 141st Separate Mechanized Brigade have been redeployed to the area of the village of Gavrilovka in the Dnipropetrovsk region near the border with the DPR for possible flanking actions near another large village located nearby, Velikomykhaylovka.
On December 24, fighters from the Vostok military group liberated the village of Zarechnoye in the Novonikolaevsky district of the Zaporizhzhia region, near the border with the Dnipropetrovsk region.
According to information from the field, the enemy's fortification area, covering an area of up to 9 square kilometers, has come under the control of the Russian army.