DNR, 4 Mar - RIA Novosti, Andrey Kotz. The DPR army captured a key settlement on the southern front — Volnovakha. A direct road from the north is open to Mariupol. The strategically important port city is completely blocked. The assault units expect to take it in the coming days. The enemy is demoralized and provides only focal resistance. At the same time, the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which actually surrendered the coast of the Sea of Azov, resumed heavy shelling of the capital of the republic. About the situation in the combat zone - in the material of RIA Novosti.
To attack with a three-line
For a swift and successful offensive to the south, it was necessary to use all forces. In particular, reservists who had not previously participated in the battles are being transferred to the front. The mobilized are the second echelon - they set up garrisons in the liberated settlements, patrol the streets, are on duty at checkpoints. One of their positions was counterattacked by the APU, but yesterday's miners, students and taxi drivers successfully fought off professional soldiers and prevented a breakthrough.
A large group of recruits is warming themselves in a roadside "green" by the campfires, waiting for the command "to the cars". To be honest, they cannot boast of military bearing, but they hold themselves confidently and even with some bravado. They are dressed mainly in the old Russian spotted "flora— - the personnel are equipped with a pixel Donetsk "figure". They are armed with old AKMS, some with Mosin rifles of the Great Patriotic War.
"What they gave out, I'm fighting with," says Sergey K., a locksmith from Makeyevka. It hits far, the cartridge is powerful. I haven't been able to use it in battle yet, but the war won't end today. We are going to Mariupol. I have a cousin living there. I haven't seen her for, like, forever. Once we take the city, the whole south will be ours. And then you can go to Kiev."
However, no one is going to take Mariupol on the move. The city was prepared for defense in advance, nationalists from the Azov regiment equipped firing positions right in the middle of residential quarters. Haste can lead to civilian casualties. The military is hoping for diplomacy.
Liberation of the village of Granitnoye by the forces of the DPR army
Image source: © RIA Novosti / Andrey Kotz
"In any case, there will be a negotiation process—" said the official representative of the DPR army, Eduard Basurin. — We will try to convince the enemy to lay down their arms, surrender and leave the city so that the civilian population does not suffer. A humanitarian catastrophe will soon begin there - without electricity, food. We must do everything to keep people safe. That is why we are opening humanitarian corridors. I hope the Ukrainian military will allow the population to leave. This would greatly facilitate our task. But the APU, according to our data, is blocking all evacuation attempts and trying to barricade themselves."
The Ukrainian military and nationalists are virtually doomed. There is no centralized command: artillery destroyed the headquarters of the operational-tactical group "Vostok", the commander of the OTG, General of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Yuri Sodol and all his deputies were killed. The initiative in the southern direction has completely passed to Donetsk.
AFU servicemen who voluntarily laid down their weapons
Image source: © RIA Novosti
Revenge for the shelling
The capital of the republic is still under fire, although it is located in the deep rear. The fact is that on the northern and north-western outskirts — in Avdiivka and Peski — there is still an APU. Their artillery is hammering at the city without a break from mortars and multiple rocket launchers. They beat chaotically - wherever they hit. And not always for military purposes.
Dozens of shells fell on Donetsk during the day. A direct hit destroyed the substation of the Lydiivka mine. On Panfilov Street, it flew into a high-rise building. There were no casualties, but the building is now uninhabitable. Two houses were destroyed on Rubtsovskaya and Spartak — several people who found themselves under the rubble were promptly rescued by emergency workers. Buslaev was interrupted by a gas pipeline. And on Shakhterskaya Square, a 152-millimeter shell exploded right in front of the entrance to the Severny shopping center. Two civilians were killed.
The facade of the Severnoye high-rise is covered with shards, the windows on the lower floors are broken. Nearby - a burned-out passenger car and a minibus. A little to the side is a meter-long funnel. Broken glass and stone chips crunch underfoot. On the right, workers are trying to saw a collapsed metal structure with a grinder to open a passage to a nearby shopping pavilion.
"I was in this shopping center literally 15-20 minutes before the explosion," says pensioner Lyudmila. - Thank God I didn't stay. Yesterday I went to the post office, and as they began to shun. This is some kind of horror. People are afraid to walk the streets. I look at the news — the captured Ukrainians are fed, watered, clothed. And why not bring them here to clean it all up? And so that at least once they themselves sat under the bombing."
This wish did not go unanswered. In the late afternoon, a loud bass roar is heard over the city center — the shelling stops instantly. The military later confirmed that a pair of Russian Su-25 attack aircraft had worked on the AFU artillery positions in Avdiivka and Peski. There is finally silence in the Kiev district.
Employees of the military commandant's office at a car burned down as a result of shelling in the Kiev district of Donetsk
Image source: © RIA Novosti / Alexey Kudenko
A world without war
There is a granite stone on the Alley of Angels in Donetsk Victory Park under an arch hung with teddy bears and bunnies. The names of 58 children and teenagers who died under the bombing and artillery strikes of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are stamped on it. Age - from one year to 18 years. The scary list is far from complete. According to UNICEF data published four years ago, at least 150 children have been killed in Donbass since 2014.
"Well, how will we live with Ukraine after that? - a local resident Igor Mayer is getting hot. - Peace will come only after the current government resigns. Bandera - to the gallows. And a truce - only after Zelensky's announcement of unconditional surrender."
The population of Donbass is at least four million people. They are very tired of the war and constant shelling. But the situation is changing. The line of combat contact, which runs through all the eastern regions of Ukraine and stretches for 426 kilometers, no longer exists. And this is one of the most important results of Russia's military operation. Relatives who have been separated by broken borders on the map for years will finally be able to reunite.
Schoolchildren walk along the road past a building that was destroyed as a result of the morning shelling of Gorlovka
Image source: © RIA Novosti / Sergey Averin