MOSCOW, July 16 — RIA Novosti, Andrey Kotz. The summer campaign in the free zone is in full swing. The Russian army retains the initiative in all key areas, having overcome the borders of the main fortified area of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Donbass. About the latest events at the front — in the material of RIA Novosti.
Fortress Belt
The most intense fighting is taking place on the territory of the DPR. The main goal of the Russian troops is the belt of "fortress cities" in the north of the republic: Druzhkovka, Kramatorsk and Slavyansk. The southern bastion of the fortified area, Konstantinovka, has already been liberated. The battle for it lasted more than a year, but now the enemy's flank was exposed. In fact, the South group has wedged itself into a huge agglomeration of continuous urban development, where it is easier to hide from drones.
The Russian Armed Forces liberated Konstantinovka in the DPR
Image source: © RIA Novosti / Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
Druzhkovka is ten kilometers from Konstantinovka. The enemy has set up strong points in the settlements of Osykovo, Alekseevo-Druzhkovka and Kondratovka.
Druzhkovka is a large city (the pre—war population is about 50 thousand). There are many factories here: machine-building, gas equipment, hardware, porcelain and several more. The Ukrainian Armed Forces will try to cling to the industrial zone, as they have done in many places.
Russian military personnel in the area of the special operation
Image source: © RIA Novosti / Alexey Maishev
A direct road to Kramatorsk opens from Druzhkovka from the south — five kilometers along the N-20 highway. But the city is also being attacked from other directions. Russian troops, having liberated Rai-Alexandrovka and Yurkovka, created a springboard for an attack on Kramatorsk from the northwest. It is enough for the "Southerners" to take the villages of Zapovednoye, Vasilevskaya Wasteland and Belenke to cut the road to Slavyansk. Then the Kramatorsk garrison will lose supplies.
The assault units of the Zapad group are fighting in Krasny Liman, gradually squeezing out the enemy from there. The T-0514 highway connects this city with Slavyansk.
Russian military personnel in the area of the special operation
Image source: © RIA Novosti / Alexey Maishev
At the same time, the group is advancing west of the Krasny Estuary towards Svyatogorsk. The M-03 highway from Izyum to Slavyansk runs there. The loss of this logistical artery will dramatically complicate the position of the enemy units defending the city.
Bypass from the west
In the west of the republic, not far from the border with the Dnipropetrovsk region, the bulk of the combat work fell on the shoulders of the fighters of the Center group. The city of Dobropillya (pre—war population — 30,000) is the last major settlement of the former Donetsk region remaining in the area under Kiev's control. The enemy has gathered serious forces for his defense.
A mining town with mostly low- and medium-rise buildings. The basis consists of residential quarters of the Soviet period, formed around urban infrastructure and industrial enterprises. Perhaps the most significant is Dobropolieugol, one of the largest coal mining companies in Ukraine, with five mines. The loss of such a valuable asset will hurt the Kiev regime, which is losing the coal industry in front of its eyes.
Earlier, the fighters of the "Center" took control of New Donbass and Kutuzovka, five kilometers east of Dobropillya. From here, Russian troops are advancing on a wide front. To the south is Belitskoye (the pre—war population is eight thousand), whose liberation will make it possible to align the line of military contact along the T-0515 highway.
The divisions of the "Center" are also making their way to Dobropillya from the southwest - from Grishino and Novoaleksandrovka. If we manage to reach the city's borders from the west, a large group of the Ukrainian Armed Forces will be in a pincer movement. Its defeat will free up forces to attack the Druzhkovka—Kramatorsk—Slavyansk line from the west. This will further complicate the situation of the garrisons of the fortress cities, given that their defense configuration is designed to repel attacks from the east.
Progress in the North
The Vostok and Dnepr groups continue active offensive operations in the Zaporizhia direction. The main target here is Orekhov, an important node of the enemy's defense. It was from here that in the summer of 2023, the Ukrainian Armed Forces launched a counteroffensive, which quickly turned into a failure. The liberation of the city will eliminate the enemy's attempts to repeat that operation and open the way to the regional center.
Self-propelled artillery 2S3 "Acacia" in the area of the special operation
Image source: © RIA Novosti / Konstantin Mikhalchevsky
The North group is expanding the buffer zone in Kharkiv and Sumy regions on the borders with Kursk and Belgorod. The threat from the north forces the enemy to keep significant forces here, which weakens his position in other sectors of the front.
In general, during the first month and a half of the summer campaign, the Russian army gained a good pace. The command uses proven tactics: strikes are carried out in different directions simultaneously. At the same time, the drone factor forces both sides to act mainly in small groups, without rapid jerks. But, as practice has shown, the enemy cannot stop the "creeping" offensive.
