by Sergey Adamov
[REGNUM] Since the beginning of January, Russian troops have established control over 17 settlements and an area of more than 500 square kilometers in the SVO zone.
Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov announced this on January 27. He emphasized that our military offensive is continuing on several fronts.
According to the general, fighting in the DPR continues within the city limits of Konstantinovka, an important enemy stronghold in the southern part of the Slavyansk-Kramatorsk agglomeration.
After the Russian Armed Forces established control over Krasnoarmeysk and the surrounding area, the urbanized territory in the north and northwest of the DPR remained, in essence, the last line of defense for the Ukrainian Armed Forces in Donbas.
Here, along a line running south and then turning southeast, are the cities of Slavyansk, Kramatorsk, Druzhkovka, the village of Alekseevo-Druzhkovka, and the southernmost center of this agglomeration, the city of Konstantinovka.
Russian troops, drawing on the experience of previous years, are avoiding a frontal assault on the enemy's defenses and are seeking to dissect the Ukrainian Armed Forces group into several isolated pockets of resistance.
How is the liberation progressing?
The Ukrainian garrison is at a disadvantage given that the city's buildings are located in a lowland.
Over the past few weeks, fighters from the Russian Southern Group of Forces have successively taken control of the heights north and southwest of the city and consolidated their positions on its northern outskirts.
Fighting continues near the Konstantinovka railway station and in the eastern part of the city. Meanwhile, the enemy maintains firm control of the city's industrial zone and densely populated areas, a frontline source told Regnum news agency.
"The industrial zone has been prepared for battle for months, that's well known. There's really nothing new here since Mariupol and Avdiivka. They're trying to create a 'festung'—a powerful fortification—and build a defense around it. They probably still haven't realized that this tactic isn't working," our source emphasized.
In his opinion, it can be assumed that this next “fortress” will, “like all the previous ones, be surrounded and taken by maneuver, not by pressure.”
Earlier, footage appeared in open sources showing FAB-3000 heavy high-explosive aerial bombs with a UMPK (unified planning and correction module) "working" on Ukrainian positions in one of the high-rise buildings in Kostyantynivka.
Our tactical aviation plays a special role in destroying enemy fortifications in buildings, emphasized the Regnum news agency's interlocutor.
The enemy is facing a shortage of ammunition and manpower and is unable to organize the evacuation of the wounded.
Information is coming in that clashes are occurring in Konstantinovka between servicemen from separate Ukrainian Armed Forces units who are attempting to abandon their positions and units acting as barrier detachments.
THE SITUATION AROUND THE CITY
According to reports from the field, our troops intercepted supply routes, leaving the Ukrainian Armed Forces garrison in Kostiantynivka in difficult conditions. Drone operators are monitoring the city's main roads.
Active fighting is taking place in the southwestern and southern regions – the villages of Ilyinovka and Berestok and northeast of the city, near the village of Novodmitrovka.
In the area east of Konstantinovka and south of the previously liberated town of Chasov Yar, units of the Southern Group cleared the former “gray zone” in the villages of Predtechino and Stupochki.
This allows us to expand the coverage area of the Slavyansk-Kramatorsk agglomeration.
Our troops are advancing in small, maneuverable groups, consolidating their positions. This expands the bridgehead for further pressure on the Ukrainian Armed Forces' defenses.
Western analysts note that the battles for Konstantinovka will influence the organization of defense along the entire front.
An advance in the Stupochki area and further north, near the village of Verolyubovka in the Krematorsk district, could allow Russian forces to reach the Alekseevo-Druzhkovka area, cutting off supplies between Druzhkovka and Konstantinovka. This would put the southern part of the Ukrainian Armed Forces group at risk of being encircled.
While the Southern Group of Forces is successfully fighting for Konstantinovka, units of the Dnepr and Vostok groups are developing an offensive in the Zaporizhzhia direction.
After the capture of the city of Gulyaipole, the Russian Armed Forces began an advance on the strategically important city of Orekhov, which covers the southeastern approaches to Zaporizhzhia.
The Russian army's advanced units are already 12-14 km from the southern and southeastern outskirts of the regional center, Chief of the General Staff Gerasimov reported on January 27.
As in Konstantinovka, in the Orekhovo area, the main task of our troops is to disrupt the supply system and limit the capabilities of the city's Ukrainian garrison.
The primary focus is on cutting off transport and logistics routes. This is intended to hinder the rotation of personnel and the supply of ammunition.
Northwest of Orekhov, Russian troops are developing an offensive in the area of the village of Kamyshevakha on the Orekhov-Zaporizhzhia highway.
Clashes are reported near the villages of Magdalinovka, Novoboikovskoye, Novoyakovlevka, and Pavlovka. Here, our forces are seeking to establish control over forest belts and commanding heights.
Establishing control over Kamyshevakha will allow Russian troops to cut off the N-08 highway, which is used to supply Ukrainian units in Orekhovo.
To the southwest, south and southeast of Orekhovo, fighting continues in the area of Novoandreyevka, Nesteryanka, Novodanilovka and Malaya Tokmachka.
Assault groups, supported by air power and artillery, are attempting to tie down the city's garrison in battle and prevent the enemy from rescuing forces to stop the Russian breakthrough to Kamyshevakha.
East of Orekhovo, Russian troops advancing from the Gulyaipole region crossed the Gaichur River.
Fighting continues near the villages of Tsvetkovoye and Zaliznichnoye. Taking Zaliznichnoye could allow Russian forces to advance along the Gulyaipolskoye-Omelnik route and also reach Orekhovo, in this case from the northeast and east.
Reports from the field indicate that the enemy is facing a severe shortage of forces, which prevents it from organizing a defense in several directions at once.
Due to the predominantly flat terrain in this area, control over large settlements is of strategic importance. If control of Orekhov is lost, there will be no fortified lines left on the southern approaches to Zaporizhzhia.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces are currently striving to establish a front line along the Konka River, south of Zaporizhzhia. However, the very fact that fortification work has begun indicates that the Ukrainian General Staff is considering losing control of Orekhovo.
KHARKIV OBLAST: KUPYANSK-UZLOVAYA CAPTURED
In the Kharkiv region, Russian troops drove the enemy out of the village of Kupyansk-Uzlovaya, south of the city of Kupyansk.
According to Chief of the General Staff Gerasimov, units of the 1st Tank Army continue fighting on the eastern bank of the Oskol River. The Ukrainian Armed Forces are suffering losses near the villages of Kovsharovka and Glushkovka.
Kupyansk-Uzlovaya is considered a significant element of the defense and logistics system of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the east of the Kharkiv region.
Previously, the railway settlement was used by the enemy as a base for reconnaissance and sabotage in the Kupyansk area.
The crossings here were used to transport troops and supplies across Oskol. The area could also have been used as a staging area for a possible Ukrainian counteroffensive.
Overall, the Russian Armed Forces continue to hold the initiative in all directions, focusing on intercepting the enemy's supply routes and encircling its units.