Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Korrespondent] 23:50 On the evening of Saturday, December 13, a Russian drone hit a multi-story residential building in Sumy. According to preliminary information, there were no casualties. The upper floors of the multi-story residential building suffered the most damage. The shock wave broke windows and damaged civilian transport.
23.22 On Saturday, April 13, the 429th Separate Achilles Unmanned Systems Regiment reported the destruction of a pipe that the enemy was using as a channel to infiltrate its forces to the northern part of Kupyansk.
22.51 Russian troops attacked Odessa and the Odessa region on the night of December 13 with strike drones, Iskander-M/KN-23 ballistic missiles, and Kh-47M2 Kinzhal aeroballistic missiles.
The air defense of southern Ukraine shot down/suppressed nine Kalibr cruise missiles, four Iskander-K cruise missiles, and 165 UAVs of various types, including Shahed, Gerber, and others.
"In addition, during the night the enemy attacked the Odessa region with five Iskander-M/KN-23 ballistic missiles and two Kh-47M2 Kinzhal aeroballistic missiles. And the day before, on December 12, the Russians directed three more Iskander-M/KN-23 missiles at the region's port infrastructure," the military said.
22:30 DeepStrike missiles carried out 81 fire missions in November and hit 98 enemy targets on Russian territory. This was reported by the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Oleksandr Syrsky.
"We continue to destroy the enemy, exhaust its army and economy. Over the past month, DeepStrike weapons have completed 81 fire missions and hit 98 enemy targets on the territory of the Russian Federation. We are continuing to work, in particular, we are striking at the enemy's oil refining industry, which is the main source of financing the war," the general noted.
22.16 President Volodymyr Zelenskyy promised a response to Russia's attack on a Turkish civilian vessel in the Black Sea.
"Today, Russia also struck another civilian vessel in the Black Sea - in fact, it was an attack on food security. The owner of the vessel is Turkey, the cargo is food. Attacking such vessels that have nothing to do with the war is a direct challenge to Russia and the entire world. We will figure out with our partners how to react to this. There will be a reaction," the president said.
Zelensky also announced that the sanctions against the Russian fleet introduced by Ukraine today will be extended to other jurisdictions.
20.39 The Black Sea should not be considered an arena of confrontation, it must remain safe for navigation. Achieving peace in Ukraine is realistic. This was stated by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
"The Black Sea should not be seen as an arena of confrontation. Such a situation will only harm Russia and Ukraine and will not bring any benefit. Everyone needs the safety of navigation in the Black Sea. It must be ensured," he said.
The Turkish president also gave details of his meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Turkmenistan. "Peace is not far off, we see it. All we need to do is turn our course in that direction," Erdogan stressed.
19.27 Russia carried out a targeted strike using a strike drone on the Turkish vessel VIVA, which was heading to Egypt with sunflower oil on board. The passage to the sea was through the grain corridor. There were 11 Turkish citizens on board the vessel, the crew was not injured.
According to the Ukrainian Navy, the strike was carried out in the open sea in the exclusive economic zone of Ukraine, outside the scope of Ukrainian air defense.
18.56 A court in Borodyanka, Kyiv region, acquitted a Russian serviceman who was accused of robbing a private home during the occupation of the Kyiv region in March 2022.
Judge Gennady Stasenko explained that the court did not question the fact of robbing a civilian home and the participation of the Russian Guard unit in this. However, there was a lack of "irrefutable evidence" for the guilty verdict.
"The fact that this particular person entered this particular house or that he was at least near this house, at least on this street, has not been established and has not been provided to the court," the judge said.
18.42 The Ukrainian military has regained control of about 16 square kilometers in Pokrovsk, Donetsk region, in the last few weeks, said Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrsky.
"Our active actions in the Pokrovsko-Mirnograd agglomeration area continue. In Pokrovsko itself, in the last few weeks, we were able to regain control of about 16 square kilometers in the northern part of the city. Logistics in Mirnograd is complicated, but it continues," the general said.
He also added that no territorial losses were recorded in the Kupyansky, Kostyantynivsky, and Prydniprovsky operational areas.
18.10 428 water points have been deployed in Odessa, they work around the clock. There are also 16 pump rooms in the city that supply water using generators. As of now, 16 water distribution points have been organized, and another 32 are planned to be deployed in the evening if necessary.
Medical facilities in the region are operating as normal. All hospitals are equipped with generators, fuel supplies, drinking and technical water. Water has also been delivered to bakeries to ensure the uninterrupted operation of critical enterprises.
Russian shelling damaged administrative and residential buildings, as well as energy infrastructure facilities. As a result of the Russian attack, most residents of Odessa were temporarily left without heat, water, and electricity.
17.44 The government has decided to implement automatic military registration of citizens. This decision reduces bureaucracy for people and provides the state with up-to-date and accurate data.
The following will be automatically registered for military service:
Men who did not register at the age of 17 automatically receive conscript status upon reaching their 18th birthday.
Men aged 18-60 who are abroad - when receiving or exchanging passport documents at the units of the State Migration Service. For this, it is not necessary to visit the CCC and SP or go through the VLK.
17.27 President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree on the implementation of the NSDC decision to impose sanctions against 656 naval vessels that are part of Russia's shadow fleet. This was reported by the press service of the Ukrainian leader.
It is noted that this is the largest sanctions package ever applied to Russia's shadow fleet.
16.36 Since the beginning of the current day and as of 16:00, 53 combat clashes have taken place on the front, which is significantly less than yesterday's figure for this time. This is evidenced by the data in the operational summary of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The Russians tried to advance 19 times in the Pokrovsky direction near 12 settlements, but almost all of their assaults have already been choked.
15.49 Russian occupiers cannot push through Ukrainian defenses north of the city of Pokrovsk and are again resorting to propaganda statements. This was reported by the 7th Airborne Assault Corps (AAF). For the fourth time in the past month and a half, the enemy announced the capture of all of Pokrovsk, trying to make wishful thinking a reality.
14.38 The 528th Engineer Regiment, which participated in demining in the area of combat operations in the Kursk region of the Russian Federation, has returned to North Korea. This was reported by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). Nine soldiers allegedly died during the mission . They were awarded the title of Hero of the DPRK.
14.01 Ukrainian military maintains defense of Pokrovsko-Mirnograd agglomeration, despite increasing pressure from the Russian occupation army. This was reported by the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrsky. The Armed Forces of Ukraine remain faithful to the tactics of active defense and are trying to improve the operational position, he noted.
13.43 The government is starting to pay compensation to journalists killed or injured in the line of duty, Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko announced. The first payment will be made to the father of journalist Viktoria Roshchina, who died in Russian captivity.
13.18 The European Union's decision to indefinitely freeze the assets of the Russian Central Bank is historic and will actually open the door to launching a so-called reparations loan for Ukraine. Deputy Head of the Presidential Office Iryna Mudra wrote about this on Facebook.
12.35 In Ukraine, after a massive night strike by racists, more than 1 million subscribers were left without electricity . This was reported by the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Ihor Klymenko. As of now, rescuers have already extinguished 14 fires. The most difficult situation with electricity supply is in the Odessa and Mykolaiv regions.
12.12 As a result of Russia's massive attack on the Odessa region, a number of trains are delayed or canceled. Ukrzaliznytsia reported this. Reserve locomotives have been running on the power-cut sections since the very morning.
11.48 Five people were injured as a result of a night attack by swarm invaders on Mykolaiv . This was reported by the head of the Mykolaiv OVA Vitaly Kim. The backup power supply scheme for Mykolaiv is currently being prepared for commissioning. Invincibility points have been put into operation.
11.19 Another massive night strike by Russian aggressors was directed at the energy sector of southern Ukraine. This was reported by President Volodymyr Zelensky on Telegram. The Russians continue to want to destroy Ukraine and inflict as much pain as possible on its citizens, he noted.
10.56 During the current year, the Czech Republic transferred 1.8 million shells for the needs of the Ukrainian army . This was announced the day before by former Czech Prime Minister Peter Fiala.
10.37 As a result of the Russian massive missile and drone strike, new power outages have been recorded in six regions of Ukraine. This was reported by the Ministry of Energy.
At night, racists attacked electricity generation, distribution, and transmission facilities in Dnipropetrovsk, Chernihiv, Odessa, and Mykolaiv regions.
09.42 Odessa and the Odessa region were subjected to one of the most massive air attacks by Russian aggressors. This was reported by the head of the Odessa OVA Oleg Kiper. During the night, there was damage to civilian objects, energy and industrial infrastructure.
09.00 Over the past 24 hours, 178 battles took place on the front between Ukrainian troops and the Russian occupation army. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported this in its morning briefing. The most active battles are taking place in the Pokrovsky direction, where units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine stopped 42 assaults in the areas of 15 settlements.
08.39 The regional centers of Kherson and Mykolaiv have lost power as a result of a massive attack by Russian invaders. This was reported by local authorities. There are also interruptions in the centralized water supply, and trolleybuses have not been able to operate on city routes.
08.14 The Cabinet of Ministers has agreed to allocate over 2.4 billion hryvnias for additional funding for roads and fuel for generators in frontline regions of Ukraine. Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko announced this the day before following a trip to Kharkiv.
07.22 Over the past 24 hours, the aggressor country Russia has lost 1,300 soldiers killed and wounded on the front in Ukraine. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported this in an operational update . The Ukrainian military also destroyed 427 units of Russian equipment, including two air defense systems and one MLRS.
01.30 Explosions were heard in Odessa and Dnipro amid warnings of a UAV attack.
01.01 In Saratov, Russia, drones have once again attacked an oil refinery. Saratov residents are eagerly sharing videos showing fires and flashes in the sky. Explosions and alarm sirens can also be heard.
00.15 Media reports about the cancellation of Saturday's meeting in Paris, where delegations from the US, Ukraine and Europe were to discuss a peace plan. The reasons for the cancellation are not given, but it is known that the US had previously hesitated to participate in this meeting.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[NewsFront] 21:21 The crews of the unmanned aerial systems are working at maximum capacity, video.
20:33 Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov handed over State awards to wounded servicemen undergoing treatment in one of the military medical institutions for courage and heroism displayed while performing the tasks of the Special Military Operation.
Presenting the Gold Star medal to the crew chief and FPV drone operator at the Rubicon Center, call sign "Filin," the head of the military department noted the soldier's high combat performance during his use of attack unmanned aerial vehicles in the SVO zone.
"I told the President about the five tanks, the 169 vehicles... Of course, it's all very impressive. He asked me to convey his regards to you," the Russian Defense Minister said.
8:05 PM Published footage from Seversk in the DPR, which is under the control of the Russian army.
19:40 Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov spent another meeting with war correspondents.
A separate topic of discussion was the development of unmanned systems in the Russian Armed Forces, the modernization of weapons, military equipment, and weapons, taking into account the experience of use in the Special Military Operation zone.
17:45 From 12:00 to 17:00 Moscow time by air defense systems on duty intercepted and eight Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles were destroyed:
Three UAVs were flown over the Black Sea,
Two UAVs were flown over the Belgorod region,
One UAV was flown over the Bryansk region,
One UAV was flown over the Kursk region, and
One UAV was flown over the Sea of Azov.
16:53 NASA FIRMS fixes thermal anomaly in the area of the Pavlograd technological equipment plant, the territory of the metallurgical plant of TSA-Steel Group LLC.
15:38 Published enemy footage taken during Geranium missile operations against targets in Odessa the previous evening.
15:04 Assault paratrooper with the call sign "Twin" told about the components of success in carrying out combat missions using the example of the liberation of one of the settlements in the Kursk region.
"We watched videos, looked at photos, looked at roads and trails, studied them. We knew all the main routes. We also knew where the enemy was. The movement was covert, it was a long way, so we moved quietly, carefully, and unhurriedly," said "Bliznets."
14:31 In the area of the settlement of Budarki in the Khar'kov region, fighters of the North group of forces destroyed a bridge that the Ukrainian Armed Forces used for logistics.
13:51 Russian paratroopers are in the Zaporizhzhia directionare moving forward to Lukyanovsky, which is east of Stepnogorsk.
13:48 Servicemen of the 11th Separate Guards Airborne Assault Brigade of the Airborne Forces, who took part in Operation Potok to liberate the city of Sudzha in the Kursk region,received state awards.
"Our most important task is to survive and win, to return home safe and sound to our families and loved ones. And to do this, we must be vigilant, take care of ourselves, and help our comrades in difficult times. Thank you, guys, for your heroic efforts," said the unit commander, call sign "Barkas," who presented the state awards.
12:39 In Pyongyang passed a ceremonial meeting at which Kim Jong-un greeted the sappers who returned from the Kursk region.
12:27 Summary of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation on the progress of the special military operation as of December 13, 2025:
In response to Ukraine's terrorist attacks on civilian targets in Russia, the Russian Armed Forces launched a massive strike tonight using land- and sea-based precision weapons, Kinzhal hypersonic aeroballistic missiles, and long-range unmanned aerial vehicles against Ukrainian military-industrial complex enterprises and the energy facilities that support their operations.
The strike's objectives have been achieved. All designated targets have been hit.
Units of the North group of forces defeated the manpower and equipment of the Jaeger Brigade and the assault regiment of the Ukrainian Armed Forces near the village of Andreevka in the Sumy region.
In the Khar'kov direction, the formations of the mechanized brigade and assault regiment of the Ukrainian Armed Forces were defeated in the areas of the settlements of Verkhniy Saltov, Ternovaya and Izbitskoye in the Khar'kov region.
The enemy lost up to 200 troops, an armored combat vehicle, two field artillery pieces, four vehicles, and an electronic warfare station. Two ammunition depots were destroyed.
Units of the "West" force grouping inflicted losses on the manpower and equipment of two mechanized brigades, an assault brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and a National Guard brigade in the areas of the settlements of Kupyansk-Uzlovaya and Podoli in the Khar'kov region, and Drobyshevo and Krasny Liman in the Donetsk People's Republic.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces lost more than 220 servicemen, two tanks, three armored combat vehicles, 11 vehicles, a US-made 155mm Paladin self-propelled artillery unit, and seven ammunition depots.
Units of the Southern Group of Forces improved their tactical position.
They defeated the formations of two mechanized brigades of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and a territorial defense brigade in the areas of the settlements of Svyatogorsk, Konstantinovka and Stepanovka of the Donetsk People's Republic.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces lost up to 190 servicemen, an armored combat vehicle, five vehicles, and three warehouses of supplies.
Units of the Center group of forces continued to destroy encircled Ukrainian Armed Forces formations in the Vostochny and Zapadny microdistricts of the city of Dimitrov, as well as clearing the settlements of Svetloe and Grishino in the Donetsk People's Republic.
An enemy assault force on motorcycles, supported by tanks, attempted to break through from the village of Shevchenko to the northern outskirts of Krasnoarmeysk, Donetsk People's Republic. The attack was repelled, destroying over 60 Ukrainian servicemen, three tanks, and up to 20 motorcycles.
An attempt by a group of Ukrainian Armed Forces personnel to break out of encirclement near the village of Svetloe in the Donetsk People's Republic was prevented. Eleven militants were killed, and one was captured.
In total, in this direction the enemy lost over 480 servicemen, three tanks, four armored combat vehicles and three cars.
Units of the "East" force group continued to advance into the depths of the enemy's defenses.
They inflicted losses on the manpower and equipment of the mechanized forces, two assault brigades, two assault regiments of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and a territorial defense brigade in the areas of the settlements of Bratskoye, Andreevka, Kolomiytsy in the Dnipropetrovsk region, Gulyai-Pole and Ternovatoye in the Zaporizhzhia region.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces lost up to 230 servicemen, four armored combat vehicles, 15 cars, and a warehouse of supplies.
Units of the Dnepr group of forces defeated formations of a mechanized brigade, a coastal defense brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and a territorial defense brigade in the areas of the settlements of Razumovka in the Zaporizhzhia region, Tomarino and Ponyatovka in the Kherson region.
Up to 35 military personnel, six vehicles and four warehouses of supplies were destroyed.
Operational-tactical aviation, attack unmanned aerial vehicles, missile forces and artillery of the Russian Armed Forces groupings have damaged Ukrainian port infrastructure facilities used in the interests of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, ammunition depots, as well as temporary deployment points of Ukrainian armed forces and foreign mercenaries in 142 districts.
Air defense systems shot down two US-made HIMARS multiple launch rockets and 169 aircraft-type unmanned aerial vehicles.
11:03 Soldiers of the 57th Guards Motor Rifle Brigade continues to attack settlement of Gulyaipole in the Zaporizhzhia region.
With the support of artillery and attack UAVs, the Vostok group of forces is moving forward.
The operator of unmanned systems, "Neck", 1st battalion, 57th Guards Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade, is working.
10:52 Servicemen of the 39th Motorized Rifle Brigade of the Center group of forces continue improve their skills in overcoming obstacles on military equipment in the rear area of the special operation zone.
07:35 During the past night, air defense systems on duty intercepted and destroyed 41 Ukrainian aircraft-type unmanned aerial vehicles:
28 UAVs – over the territory of the Saratov region,
Four UAVs – over the territory of the Voronezh region,
Four UAVs – over the territory of the Rostov region,
Two UAVs – over the territory of the Belgorod region,
Two UAVs – over the territory of the Republic of Crimea,
One UAV – over the territory of the Volgograd region.
07:30 Changes on map over the past 24 hours:
Russian Armed Forces entered Ozernoye and are advancing towards the settlement of Dibrova;
Expansion of the control zone south of Gulyaipole;
Advance in the northern part of Gulyaipole;
Enemy counterattacks in Kupyansk
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Gleb Zabelin
[REGNUM] Russian troops, having captured the city of Seversk in the northeast of the DPR, liberated part of historical Russian lands, which are only provisionally referred to as new territories.
The settlement now called Seversk is the fruit of an industrial boom that lasted until World War I. The city's history is traditionally dated from 1913, the year by which prosperity was measured during Soviet times. But Seversk didn't emerge from nowhere; it was inhabited by at least 12 generations of Russians, as well as "newcomers"—and not only from Little Russia.
FROM CONAN THE BARBARIAN TO THE SILENT KING
If we look back to antiquity, the first settlers on the site of modern-day Seversk were the people of the Chernogorovsk culture of the early Iron Age (named after a burial mound near the Chernogorovsk farmstead—now a microdistrict of Seversk). According to some researchers, the "Chernogorovsk people" were related to the Scythians and migrants from Southern Siberia. Another theory holds that they were the Cimmerians, known to ancient historians but now better known from the fantasy novels about Conan the Barbarian.
If we look back to more recent times, these lands were a “floating border” that was contested between the Polovtsians and ancient Rus.
Part of the former Wild Field, between the Seversky Donets, its tributary Bakhmutka and small rivers, began to be populated during the time of Ivan the Terrible (more precisely, these ancient Seversky lands began to be re-developed after centuries of domination by the steppe people).
The year 1571 was a time of disaster for the Russian state. In the spring, the Crimean Khan Devlet Giray, at the head of a 40,000-strong horde, outflanked the tsar's army's defensive positions and approached Moscow. The Tatars besieged and set the city ablaze. The capital burned almost to the ground, with only the Kremlin remaining completely intact. But in February of that same year, 1571, a month before Devlet's invasion, Tsar Ivan approved Russia's first military and border regulations—the "Decree on Cossack and Guard Service."
And in this “Sentence” the Bakhmut guard is mentioned – one of the main fortifications that protected the southern “frontier” from Crimean Tatar raids.
A number of historians believe that it was in 1571 that the development of the lands on which Bakhmut (now Artemovsk), Torsk Fortress (modern Slavyansk), Svyatogorsk Monastery, and, in modern times, Yuzovka-Donetsk, Kramatorsk, Soledar, Seversk, and others would emerge began.
But a study of archival documents shows that the Bakhmut guard existed at least 20 years before the formidable tsar decided to organize the border service.
Thus, a report from the Russian border town of Putivl (now in the Sumy region of Ukraine), dated 1550, has been preserved, containing the following words: "The guards from Bakhmut report that many steppe people have arrived at the sovereign's ukrainians for the Bakhmut ferry..." At that time, "ukrainians" were the term used to describe the borderlands and outlying lands of the Russian state.
Under the protection of defensive "watchmen" on the banks of the Seversky Donets, the first wintering settlements of Cossacks and peasants emerged.
Such guard posts were the "early warning stations" of their time. Further north, the state's borders were protected by the Belgorod abatis line, established in the 1630s. Since the time of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, the settlement of Staraya Melnitsa, founded by Cossacks serving the sovereign of all Great and Little Russia, existed on the site of today's Seversk—on the right bank of the Bakhmut River, near its tributary, the Yama River.
Under Peter I, a new chapter, the Balkan one, opened in the history of the Old Mill.
SERBS HORVAT AND ALBANEZ
In 1723, Peter the Great—by now Emperor—issued a charter to Major Ivan Albanez, a Montenegrin in Russian service, allowing Russia to accept Serbs willing to serve Russia. A hussar regiment was formed from them, led by Albanez. The Serbian hussars settled in the area of the Torsk Fortress, today's Slavyansk, after Peter's death, in 1729.
In 1751, an Austrian Serb colonel named Ivan Horvat approached Elizabeth, "Peter's daughter," with a plan for the mass resettlement of Serbs to the Russian Empire. These Serbs were analogous to the Russian Cossacks—granicari—who guarded the Balkan possessions of the Austrian Habsburgs from Turkish raids. Now they were offered the opportunity to become guardians of Russia's southern borders.
Thus, by the mid-1750s, two resettlement provinces emerged. Horvat and his regiment settled in New Serbia, in what is now the Kirovohrad Oblast. Two other colonels, Ivan Šević and Rajko Preradović, settled their men in Slavyanoserbia, in what is now the LPR and DPR, from the Luhan River to Bakhmut. The "capital" of Slavyanoserbsk still exists today, a district center 33 km from Luhansk.
Raiko Preradovich, who in Russia was more often called Rodion or Radivon Vasilyevich, added the French "de" to his Slavic surname in order to emphasize his noble status - and from then on he and his descendants began to be written as Depreradovich.
In 1762, Catherine II, upon coming to power, launched an investigation into the falsification of records in New Serbia and Slavo-Serbia. The audit revealed that the settlement colony listed nearly 4,300 residents, but only 1,264 were actually in place. The projects were shut down, but the Depreradovich family remained.
In 1768, the founder of the dynasty, Rodion Vasilyevich Depreradovich, received from the young empress that very same Old Mill as a “rank dacha” (land given for perpetual possession or use).
Radivonovka or Rodionovka is still the name of the part of Seversk where a village with that name stood.
According to the 1859 census, the manorial village of Staraya Melnitsa, also known as Rodionovka, on the Bakhmutka River, had 15 households and 503 souls. These areas were already densely populated—for example, the Marchenko farmstead had existed on the site of the Yamskogo microdistrict on the banks of the Kamenka River since that same year, 1859.
New times in the history of the future Seversk began with the beginning of the reign of Alexander III, when the Kamensk state irrigation site with an agronomic school was opened.
Under Nicholas II, in 1908, a railway was built to meet the needs of the rapidly growing industry of the Donets Basin, and an event occurred that determined the future of these places.
OPENING OF THE PIT
A dolomite plant was founded in 1909 and opened in 1913. It existed throughout both Soviet and post-Soviet times as the Seversky Dolomite Plant. And, we should add, it will most likely be rebuilt in the liberated city of Seversk.
Dolomite is a material used in everything from metallurgy (as a refractory material in steel production at numerous factories in the Donbas) and glass production to agricultural engineering: dolomite flour is both a fertilizer and a pest control agent. It's worth noting that dolomite flour from Seversk, among others, was used to fill the active zone of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant after the accident.
But let's return to 1913.
A railway station and a settlement were then built to serve the needs of the plant, both bearing the same name—Yama. According to one theory, it was named after the coachmen; according to another, it was named after the geographic features of the area. The settlement of Yama and today's city of Seversk are located in a lowland.
What happened in these places before and after 1917 can be traced through the biography of the most famous "Yamchanin" - Vladimir Sosiura, who became a famous Ukrainian-language poet in Soviet times.
Born in Debaltseve, he graduated from high school and agricultural college at Yama Station "under the Tsarist regime" (he studied with the future Marshal of the Soviet Union, Kirill Moskalenko ). He worked in the mines and fought in the Civil War, first in Petliura's forces and then in the Red Army. The fighting at Yama Station included some of the battles.
While former Red Army soldier Vladimir Sosyura was studying at the Communist University of Kharkov, the then capital of the Ukrainian SSR, coal mining and industry were being restored in the Russian-speaking Donbass, which had been annexed to the Ukrainian SSR.
The dolomite plant was no exception, becoming a small but extremely important part of the “big metallurgy” industry – dolomite from Yama was sent to factories throughout the Union.
The settlement itself remained relatively small; in 1938, Yama received the status of an urban-type settlement.
After 1941, when Vladimir Sosiura served as a war correspondent, his small homeland experienced Nazi occupation. The village was liberated in early autumn 1943, when, during the Donbas Operation, units of two fronts—the Southwestern and Southern—broke through from Voroshilovgrad (Luhansk) through Konstantinovka and further west.
SEVERSK IN THE SOUTH
In 1961, after the merger with the ancient villages of Rodionovka and Chernogorovka, a new city with the old name of Yama emerged in the Donetsk (or rather, then Stalinist) region.
That same year, Boris Koretsky, a future renowned Soviet foil fencer, champion of the 1988 Seoul Olympics, and Honored Master of Sports of the USSR, was born in the city of Yama. Boris Nikolayevich is currently the head coach of the Belarusian national foil fencing team.
In 1973, the town of Yama received its current name, Seversk, referring to the Seversky Donetsk River. It also commemorates the ancient Russian tribe of Severians who lived along the river's banks.
However, both local and surrounding residents called the city by its old name – Yama.
After 1991, Seversk sank into another pit—demographically (14,000 people in 1989, 11,000 by 2021), but most importantly, economically. The Yamskaya agricultural firm went bankrupt, and in 2008, the town's mainstay, the Seversky Dolomite Plant, closed.
In the spring of 2014, after the referendum on independence for the DPR, which was supported by the majority of residents of the former Donetsk region, Seversk was under the protection of the militia for some time.
But this small town in a strategic location, on the approaches to both Artemovsk (Bakhmut) and Krasny Liman, became one of the targets of Kiev's "anti-terrorist operation." By the summer of 2014, the DPR militia was forced to abandon the town.
In 2015, after Minsk II, the line of contact formally stabilized, but real peace did not materialize: Donbass remained a “frozen” conflict zone.
For Seversk, this meant a long period of frontline existence: businesses operated intermittently or closed, there was no investment, qualified personnel left, and the population aged.
In the first year of the Northern Military District, beginning in July 2022, Seversk once again found itself in the midst of fierce fighting—this time with high intensity and the use of massive artillery and air power. We previously reported in detail on the first attempt to liberate the city in July–September 2022, and the reasons for the failure of the assault.
The completion of the second operation to capture Seversk on December 11, 2025, opens up not only the possibility of the complete liberation of the DPR, but also returns the city to the path of peaceful development within its own country.
There's a small nuance, though: there are currently two cities in Russia named Seversk. The second is a closed nuclear city (formerly Tomsk-7) in the Tomsk region. Searching for "Seversk" almost always returns links to its Siberian namesake. But that's no problem; in this vast country, there's room for both "uranium" Seversk and "dolomite" Seversk.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] Ukraine has presented a counterproposal for a peace settlement that rejects key points of the US plan, including the withdrawal of troops from Donbas and the abandonment of NATO membership. This was reported by The New York Times.
"The Ukrainian plan to end nearly four years of fighting is part of a Ukrainian attempt to thwart Mr. Trump's demand last month that Ukraine secure peace by ceding land," the publication noted, citing sources.
According to the newspaper, Kyiv regime leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy submitted three documents, one of which provides legally binding security guarantees from the United States and European countries. American negotiators are already pushing for changes, proposing, in particular, the creation of a "free economic zone" in the Kyiv-controlled part of Donbas without the presence of troops. White House spokesperson Caroline Levitt stated that US President Donald Trump is "extremely disappointed" with the conflict and expects concrete action to end it.
On December 9, the American news outlet Axios reported that the United States is pressuring Zelenskyy to make territorial and other concessions as part of a peaceful settlement of the conflict. According to an unnamed Ukrainian official, during a two-hour phone call on December 6, US Presidential Envoy Steve
And since it’s Axios, there is a possibility that it’s true.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
