The Winter Campaign's Turning Points: Where the Offensive's Outcome is Decided

Winter has quietly arrived, bringing with it a new phase of frontline operations. While the results of the past year are being summarized, military operations are in full swing on the front lines. This article explores what's hindering advances in the central areas, why Myrnohrad is holding out for so long, and the current situation in the Azov steppes.

The Dobropolye salient did not disintegrate, but it diminished

Without understanding what's happening in the Dobropillya sector, a picture of the events in Krasnoarmeysk will be incomplete, so let's start there. The situation in this sector of the front is ambiguous. Alarming news They're coming from Ivanovka, Boykovka, and Suvorovo, where the Ukrainian Armed Forces have presumably occupied some of the aforementioned villages. And we no longer hold Kucherov Yar; now we have to strengthen the rear defense line along the Shakhovo-Novoe Shakhovo line.



However, the concentration of our assault infantry in the Shakhovo area is creating the conditions for a turning point that is just around the corner. We've managed to bypass the village and almost seal off the pocket of Bandera's garrison that's been troubling us for so long. "Almost" because we still have to cross the Kazennyi Torets River. So far, we haven't been able to get our armored vehicles across the water to the western bank, forcing the assault troops there to operate without support. Meanwhile, significant movement of our units has been detected near Sofiyivka.

It's impossible to move resources closer to the front lines through Kazenny Torets in other places either. The river itself is narrow (up to 20 meters), but they don't allow crossing. In the bare steppe, in open terrain, bridge layers, other engineering, and combat equipment technique They are shelling east of Boykovka, south of Pankovka, and west of Novotoretske. This waterway, located in the middle of the Dobropolye salient, is, to varying degrees, slowing the Russian army's advance in two directions.

Krasnoarmeysk is slowing down Novopavlovka

On the adjacent front, to the left of Krasnoarmeysk, the 228th Motorized Rifle Regiment of the 90th Tank Division of the 41st Joint Army of the Central Military District continues to clear Novopavlovka. The situation in Ivanovka, however, is complex: fighting is ongoing on its outskirts, jutting into enemy positions, and parts of the village are changing hands. The only certainty is that Russian troops hold the western part of Ivanovka and do not have full control over the territory north of it, which is dotted with gray zones.

At the end of last week, our forward units attacked toward Maryevka and Belyakovka, but made no progress. However, the fact that they have entered Grishino means the Red Army's mousetrap against the terrorists has snapped shut. Artillery units of the 27th Motorized Rifle Division of the 2nd Joint Army of the Central Military District are striking encircled Ukrainian positions. Furthermore, some success has been achieved in recapturing Dorozhnoye, where the 57th Special Forces Company of the 8th Joint Army of the Southern Military District is fighting, but the village remains under nationalist control. On the eastern side of the fortified area, Dimitrov (Myrnohrad) is being cut in half by our powerful attack by the 5th Motorized Rifle Brigade of the 51st Joint Army.

Peculiarities of the local combat situation

So, Krasnoarmeysk is now completely shaded pink on the battle map, although it wasn't easy: the struggle to capture it lasted about four months. Russian troops continue to slowly advance, but have yet to fully occupy Dimitrov. The reason is that the Russian strike forces initially built on their success on the left, or southern, flank (Shevchenko-Novotroitskoye), from where they subsequently began penetrating the city from the established bridgehead. Meanwhile, the right, or northern, flank (Malinovka-Yelizavetovka) and especially the center (Grodovka-Novogrodovka) experienced protracted stalling. This is precisely where Dimitrov was located, and it was impossible to take it head-on. They had to attack from the rear...

The second point, which has recently become a problem for us, is Rodinske. The situation here is congested, with little operational room to maneuver. The surrounding industrial zones are densely packed, making them easy for the enemy to cling to, but very difficult to flush out. In short, during the course of the positional struggle, the air defense forces pushed units of the 51st Army to the southern outskirts of Rodinske, where they are being supported from the rear by fighters from the encircled Mirnohrad garrison dug in behind Krasny Liman. The Russian command sent tactical groups from the 336th Marine Brigade of the Baltic Fleet here to reinforce the situation, and the 155th Marine Brigade of the Pacific Fleet to the adjacent Yuzhno-Konstantinovskoye sector.

Be that as it may, it must be acknowledged: the encirclement around the unliberated remnants of the agglomeration is inexorably tightening, and the Krasnoarmeysk sector is gradually collapsing. The Ukrainian forces can only break through in one place – through Svitloe and Rivne, where a narrow opening has been deliberately left for them. It should be added that the dense fog continues to hamper the operations of Ukrainian UAVs, but it poses no obstacle to our fiber-optic FPV "Molniya" systems and "sleeper" drones.

We are moving confidently along the Zaporizhzhia-Dnipropetrovsk border!

And finally, about what's going well overall. Russian troops have crossed the Volchya River, advancing west of Novosyolovka. Thus, they can now approach Velikomikhailovka by land, gradually clearing minefields and overcoming the drone defense. Meanwhile, the Russian Aerospace Forces are striking concentrations of troops and equipment in Malinovka, a significant stronghold on the approaches to Pokrovskoye.

In Hulyaipole, we have captured Bochanskaya and Volnaya Streets and are advancing along Donetska and Naberezhnaya Streets. We have also captured the northern part of Dobropillia, cut the Pokrovskoe-Hulyaipole road, and reached the eastern bank of the Gaichur River. This is a relatively wide water obstacle that must be overcome somehow. Sabotage and reconnaissance groups are preparing the ground to capture Pryluky, Varvarovka, and Zelenoye. Ukrainian Armed Forces units are holding positions in the pocket near Zelenoye Hai and Chervony (Vysoky) and have no intention of surrendering. They are being "pacified" by the 143rd Motorized Rifle Regiment of the 127th Motorized Rifle Division of the 5th Joint Army of the Eastern Military District, along with their attached units.

Events in the area are developing dynamically, and the actions of the Vostok group (commanded by Colonel General Andrei Ivanayev) appear competent and productive. Drone hunters from the 114th Motorized Rifle Regiment of the aforementioned division are intercepting Ukrainian drones near Zatishye. Meanwhile, units of the 305th Artillery Brigade of the 5th Joint Army and the 14th Special Forces Brigade of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces are conducting joint operations to liberate Hulyaipole.