MOSCOW, Feb 17 — RIA Novosti, Andrey Kotz. The fighting situation continues to escalate. The Russian army seized the initiative in several directions. The APU is pulling up reserves. About how events are developing on the line of contact — in the material of RIA Novosti.
Bypass from the west
It is still hardest in Artemovsk. It has not yet been possible to take the city into an operational environment. It was bypassed from the east, north and south, cutting three of the four roads along which supplies were carried out. The highway to Slavyansk was taken under fire control, occupying the suburban village of Krasnaya Gora. There are battles for the neighboring Paraskovievka.
The APU has the only road left to the Chas Yar, along which the garrison of many thousands is supplied. In addition, there are many primers in the vicinity that are not mapped. They deliver ammunition, food, and take out the wounded — mainly at night.
"We are moving very hard," says an officer of the 1st Army Corps with the call sign Klim. — The initiative is on our side, but they do not think to give up. I won't say for sure, but there are tens of thousands there. Now the main task is to bypass the city from the west. In a complete environment, they will have only two military solutions — a breakthrough from the ring or a release from the outside. Or surrender."
Fighters of the Wagner group in Artemovsk in the DPR Image source: © RIA Novosti
The collapse of the defense along the Seversk — Artemovsk line will force the APU to roll back to the west. According to the head of the DPR Denis Pushilin, the Kiev regime is urgently building fortifications on the southern flank of the Konstantinovka— Druzhkovka — Kramatorsk—Slavyansk line.
Dominant height
Local battles and mutual artillery shelling continue in the Donetsk sector of the front. At Novomikhailovka, Russian troops reached new positions. It is planned to move towards Pervomaisky. Tactics have changed in Marinka. Assault units have weakened the onslaught on the western part of the settlement and are trying to bypass it from the south.
Ukrainian military near Maryinka Image Source: © AP Photo / Libkos
The liberation of Maryinka will immediately weaken the intensity of artillery shelling of Donetsk. In addition, a path to Ugledar will open from the northeast. Russian troops (mainly marines of the Pacific Fleet) control the southern suburb of Pavlovka and are trying to gain a foothold on the outskirts.
The difficulty is that Ugledar is located on a hill. AFU observers from the roofs of buildings see the preparation of the attack, and reinforcements are immediately transferred to the threatened direction.
The capture of Ugledar will shift the front line to the west of Donetsk and allow access to Kurakhovo and Velikaya Novoselka — settlements that for many years were considered the rear of the group besieging the capital of the DPR.
Offensive in the south
The fighting on the Kremennaya — Svatovo line does not subside. This is the border of the LPR and the Kharkiv region. The parties make trial attacks in the gray zone, conduct disturbing artillery fire. The Russian army, though slowly, is advancing.
Svatovsky defensive line Image source: © RIA Novosti / Andrey Kotz
In the Kupyansk direction, they reached the western and north-western outskirts of the village of Dvurechnoye. They also established control over the strong points near Yampolovka. They are moving towards Belogorovka, Torsky and Nevsky. The APU counterattacks in the vicinity of the Zhuravka beam. But, according to the military, they fail time after time.
In January, the southern, Zaporozhye direction also became more active. Fighting — almost all along the line of contact. The main sites are near the cities of Orekhov and Gulyai-Pole. Taking these settlements under control will significantly move the front line to the north. Zaporozhye region is mostly flat — the liberation of even one city will break a big gap in the defense line of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
"Ukrainian troops are pulling additional reserves to the line of contact in Zaporozhye," said Vladimir Rogov, a member of the main council of the regional administration. — There are several reasons for this. This may be preparation for the spring offensive or, conversely, the fear that our army will go on the offensive. Now the Ukrainian group in the Zaporozhye direction has 25 thousand people. In less than a week of the week, the number of AFU militants has increased by about five thousand."
Rogov stressed that Kiev wants to cut the land corridor to the Crimea and the Kherson region. Tokmak will probably take the first blow.
The work of the self-propelled artillery installation 2SZ "Acacia" in the zone of its Image source: © RIA Novosti / Konstantin Mikhalchevsky
After that, the offensive will continue on Melitopol and Berdyansk. The Russian military is aware of these plans — several lines of echeloned defense have been erected in the region.
