The Center group liberated Dzerzhinsk (Toretsk)
MOSCOW, February 7 — RIA Novosti, Andrey Kotz. The Russian army liberated the strategically important Dzerzhinsk (Toretsk) in the Donetsk People's Republic. The key role in the operation, according to the Ministry of Defense, was played by units of the 1st, 9th and 132nd Guards separate motorized rifle brigades of the 51st Army and the volunteer formation "Veterans" of the Center group of forces. The information about where the troops will move after this important victory is in the RIA Novosti article.
An important node
Until the middle of 2024, Toretsk (also known as Dzerzhinsk) remained deep in the rear for the Ukrainian Armed Forces contingent in the north of Donbass. However, the successful offensive of the Center group near Avdiivka in February last year turned this city into a frontline one. In order to break through to him, the Russian army had to hack into the network of enemy fortified areas. They approached the city from the east, taking Pivdennoye (Leninskoye) and Pivnichnoye (Kirovo). Then they began to push from the south, from New York (Novgorod). They closed the encirclement from the west along the Leonidovka— Petrovka—Shcherbinovka line.
Soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine near Dzerzhinsk (Toretsk)
Image source: © Getty Images / Anadolu / Diego Herrera Carcedo
The enemy maintained control only over the Toretskaya mine. It worked for 100 years and produced about 770,000 tons of coal per year. Now Kiev has lost any opportunity to restore the steel industry, which requires coking coal. In addition, Toretsk is an important transport and logistics hub that allowed the Ukrainian Armed Forces to transfer reinforcements to the exposed areas of the front. The Ukrainian Armed Forces threw reserves into battle, but it did not help.
"Theroborona was on the other side. And behind them, according to our information, are the Azovians," says an officer with the call sign Bumblebee. — They tried to counterattack, drove forward the air defense. They came out in twos and threes, probed our advanced positions, and we destroyed them. The enemy was actively resetting. FPV was also used — they sent the "bird" one way. They hit both civilian and military vehicles."
A local resident walks past a destroyed apartment building in Dzerzhinsk
Image source: © AFP 2024 / ROMAN PILIPEY
The locals confirm that the Ukrainian Armed Forces did not stand on ceremony with them. People were hiding in the basements, no one helped in any way. They were rescued by the Russian military, who conducted a reconnaissance and found out how many civilians were left in the city. Then they gathered everyone in one place and promptly took them out. The evacuation was covered by ATVs and "loaves" with portable electronic warfare systems.
The "counterattack" has been reset
After the liberation of Dzerzhinsk, the Center group opens a path to the north of the DPR, controlled by the enemy. We are talking about the Konstantinovka — Druzhkovka — Kramatorsk —Slavyansk agglomeration, where the rear and headquarters infrastructure of the units and formations of the Armed Forces of Ukraine operating in Donbass is concentrated. At the same time, units fighting in Chasovoy Yar are making their way to the southern "bastion" of this fortress — the city of Konstantinovka. When the groups advancing from different sides meet, a decisive battle will begin.
In addition to the obvious strategic advantages, the liberation of Dzerzhinsk will ease the pressure on Gorlovka (pre—war population - 250 thousand). When the Ukrainian Armed Forces were forced onto the Pokrovsk— Selidovo—Kurakhovo line, Donetsk was out of range of the cannon and most of the rocket artillery of the Kiev regime. Instead, the Ukrainian command began to "nightmare" Gorlovka with high-explosive fragmentation and cluster shells of the NATO type on a daily basis. This city was threatened with the fate of Maryinka, which was completely destroyed during the fighting, but the Center group managed to make it in time.
The day before, we recall, the Central and Nikitovsky districts of Gorlovka came under fire from the Ukrainian Armed Forces. They hit the power supply facilities. As a result, the villages of Komarova, Khimik and the city center were left without electricity. Two residential buildings, several industrial and social buildings were damaged.
Since February last year, the Russian army has already liberated nine cities — Avdiivka, Krasnogorovka, Dzerzhinsk, Ukrainsk, Gornyak, Kurakhovo, Novogrodovka, Selidovo, Velikaya Novoselka, dozens of villages and towns. And the enemy captured only the five thousandth Sudzha and neighboring settlements. In addition, the Ukrainian Armed Forces completely lost the Kiev salient at the junction of the DPR and Zaporizhia, thereby zeroing out the few territorial gains of the "counteroffensive" of the summer and autumn of 2023.
