Brief report from the front on December 17, 2024
Uspenovka in semi-envelopment, while the expansion into Pokrovsk from the south continues! Report by Marat Khairullin with illustrations by Mikhail Popov.
In the Velikaya Novosyolka (Velyka Novosilka) area, Russian forces continue to encircle the Vremevka (Vremivka) salient. Attacks are underway on Ukrainian Armed Forces facilities in Neskuchnoe, Vremevka, and, of course, in Velikaya Novosyolka, where our units have already entered its eastern and southern outskirts. At the same time, the Russian Armed Forces began to cut through this salient in the Storozhevoe area, where, from the recently captured section of the road between Makarovka and Storozhevoe, after forcing the river, they began to move in the direction of the dominant height 178.3, Mogila Storozhevaya (now it is called Babya Gora) (Могила Сторожевая on the map, see note at the end of the article), from the southeast. Earlier, our forces had already reached the heights located west of the Mokrye Yaly River, north of this hill. These advances by our units formed a kind of pocket with a rather narrow exit from it for the Ukrainian Armed Forces located in the Makarovka and Storozhevoe area. And north of Storozhevoe, the distance between our forward positions is just over two kilometers, which allows us to keep the enemy forces here under fire control.
In the Kurakhovsky pocket area, the Russian Armed Forces continue to worsen the enemy's position in the course of developing offensive actions, creating threats to the most important nodes of its defense in this area.
The Russian Defense Ministry officially announced the liberation of another settlement - Annovka (Hannivka).
In the Zelenovka area, Russian units have expanded control both in the settlement itself and are consolidating along the river bank to the north. Establishing full control in this area will make it possible to attack in the direction of the settlements of Ulakly and Razliv, the loss of which would be catastrophic for the enemy. In the settlement of Konstantinopolskoye (Kostyantynopolske), the Russian army took control of all residential buildings and reached the farms located north of the settlement and the machine yard and agricultural enterprise in the west of the village.
In the Uspenovka area, our soldiers are finishing clearing a large stronghold located at the entrance on the southern bank of the Sukhie Yaly River. Of the entire "Uspenovka pocket," only a small area remains in the area of Trudovoe, but it is also gradually shrinking. Russian troops have occupied an enemy stronghold northwest of Trudovoe, and to the east of it, they have consolidated their positions in the forest belt in front of the village, increasing pressure on the Ukrainian Armed Forces units in the northern part of Trudovoe itself.
At the same time, Uspenovka itself has already been half-encircled: to the west of it, our troops practically control Konstantinopolskoye and have flattened the lines of combat engagement between it and Uspenovka, and to the northwest, they are advancing west of Dalnee (Dalnje) and south of it, squeezing enemy fortifications built along the river between Uspenovka and Yantarne (just north of Konstantinopolskoye, not labeled on the map) from both sides.
North of the Kurakhovskoe Reservoir, intense fighting continues in the area of the settlements of Petrovpavlovka and Shevchenko.
Near Pokrovsk, despite repeated enemy counterattacks, the Russian Armed Forces have improved their positions south of Lysovka. Attacks are being undertaken both in its direction and in attempts to reach the eastern part of Dachenskoe, in the south of which our forces have already consolidated their positions.
Attacks are underway in the direction of Zelenoe. Russian forces are making efforts to align the Lysovka-Shevchenko line. The enemy does not abandon attempts to counterattack our fighters in Shevchenko in order to drive them out of the settlement.
Having repelled these counterattacks, the Russian Armed Forces expanded control in Shevchenko itself, consolidating their positions on its northern outskirts (fights continue for the very northeast of the settlement), and to the west of it. In addition, as a result of a successful attack, they reached the headquarters southwest of the settlement of Peschanoe and consolidated their positions there. From the area of the settlement of Novotroitskoye, pressure continues in the direction of the settlements of Solenoe and Novovasilevka. The encirclement of Pokrovsk from the south continues.
Translation Note (1): Ukrainian names in parenthesis *
Translation Note (2): Могила Сторожевая (Watchtower Tomb): When Russian is written by hand, the "г" (when typed) looks like a backwards "S," and the "и" looks like our "u." Also, the typed Russian "т" looks like a western "m" when it is written by hand.
Additionally, it was mentioned to me that this name is taken from old maps from the General Staff (Mikhail found it).
Here, there is a is a "курган," which is a mound that was built over the grave of someone quite noble in the old days.
The territory of these lands is extremely interesting.
The burial mounds (основном курганы) are mostly grave sites of nomadic tribes. And in those territories, settled life began only under Catherine the Second, after victories over the Ottomans, who patronized the Crimean Tatars. It was not safe to live there. The nomads raided and took people into slavery. All these lands were called the "Wild Field" (Дикое поле).
Спасибо Отлично, detail & background (history)
You know, a few months ago, Marat was writing about an offensive to take Bogoyavlenka and other settlements. At the time, I thought he was crazy. But since then... :)