A group of Ukrainian troops near the suburb of Donetsk – the village of Nevelskoye – is in danger of being encircled.
While the Kursk operation and the Russian offensive in Pokrovsk got the most attention at the front, a dangerous situation for the Ukrainian military arose near Donetsk itself. A group of Ukrainian troops near the suburb of Donetsk – the village of Nevelskoye – is in danger of being encircled. The Russian army remains covering about 5 km to close the so-called cauldron in this area.
The situation here began to deteriorate at the end of August, when Russian troops, who had buried themselves in the Ukrainian defenses near Pokrovsk and Selidovo, suddenly turned south.
Quickly moving towards the city of Kurakhovo, they began to cut off the Ukrainian garrison located in the east, between Nevelskoye, Gornyak and Krasnohorivka. To close this cauldron, the Russian army is simultaneously advancing from the north and southeast. On September 16, the length of the neck of this ledge was about 5 km.
Russian military telegram channels have reported several times that Ukraine has withdrawn its garrison to avoid a siege. But this, according to Ukrainian military experts, never happened.
The battle continues
DeepState project analysts updated the map on the evening of September 7 and reported that the Russians occupied Nevelskoye, Donetsk region. “The enemy occupied Nevelskoye and advanced to Krasnogorovka. The battle continues north of Gornyak,” analysts said.
According to the Ukrainian military expert Konstantin Mashovets, the Russian army from the southern part has advanced in the directions from Krasnogorovka to the villages of Ostroye and Alexandropol. To the north of the salient, Russian armed forces have occupied the village of Galitsinovka and are fighting for Zhelanye Pervoe and Ukrainsk.
On September 14, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that it had captured the village of Zhelanye Pervoye. Ukrainian sources have not yet confirmed this.
The loss of this settlement meant that almost all the main supply routes for the Ukrainian group near Nevelskoye were under enemy control. It will be possible to get out of the vicinity only on field roads, while crossing the Volchya River.
“If the enemy continues to advance in this direction, it could be a disaster for the entire flank of our group, which operates southeast of Pokrovsk,” said Mashovets.
At the same time, he claims that this plan of the Russian Federation “is not a secret for the Ukrainian command.”
While the Ukrainian Armed Forces continue to hold the Gornyak – Zhelannoe Second – Alexandropol – Kurakhovka area, it ensures the stability of their defense along the Volchya River in the crossing area, the expert notes.
That is, it allows not only to supply the group near Nevelskoye, but also to quickly withdraw it if necessary.
Moreover, as Mashovets wrote, the advanced units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces have already begun to withdraw from this bridge in an organized and gradual manner, conducting rear battles with the enemy.
The main goal is Pokrovsk
The Ukrainian command says that Russia has not abandoned plans for an attack on Pokrovsk.
Lieutenant Colonel Oleg Demyanenko, who commands the tank battalion of the 110th Brigade, in a commentary on the BBC, said that Russian troops are now advancing from the flanks – instead of a direct attack on Pokrovsk.
However, he claims that currently the Russians are mainly focused on the southern flank, that is, in the direction of Kurakhovsky.
Kurakhovo is connected to Pokrovsk by roads along which troops move and the front line is provided.
If the Russians take Kurakhovo, they could go north to attack Pokrovsk from a new direction, said Roman Pogorely, an analyst at the Ukrainian OSINT project DeepState.
Another possibility is that they could attack the Ukrainian troops in Vugledar from behind, he added. It is a city on the southern front line in Donbass that the Russians have been trying to capture since the start of their full-scale offensive.
At the beginning of autumn, the Russian army intensified its pressure in the direction of Ugledar, captured the settlements to the east and west of the city, and was now close to limiting the supply routes of the Ukrainian garrison.
Source: korrespondent
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