Russia continues to tighten its grip along the entire front and launched nearly 100 attacks on the Kurakhoye and Pokrovsk axes of the Donetsk region of eastern Donetsk on Wednesday. Ukraine and in the Russian region of Kursk, where about 50,000 Russian troops are trying to drive out Kiev troops. who control part of the territory.
According to the Ukrainian General Staff, Kurakhove was once again the hottest area along the entire contact line. There Ukrainian forces repelled a total of 47 Russian assaults.. Meanwhile, Kiev troops defending the Pokrovsk axis stopped 28 attacks. In the Kursk region, Russian troops unsuccessfully tried to break through Ukrainian defenses up to 20 times.
According to the DeepState war analysis platform, Russian forces advanced in the last few hours at about ten points on the eastern front. These Russian advances come at a high price in military hardware and human casualties. During this Wednesday, the number of Russian losses between dead and wounded again exceeded 1,700 for the third consecutive day.
According to Ukrainian military analysts, Russia is stepping on the accelerator on the front lines to conquer as much territory as possible ahead of US President-elect Donald Trump’s arrival in the White House in January. Trump has vowed to immediately push for negotiations to end the war.
Russia seizes Rivnopil
The Russian Armed Forces have taken control of the town of Rivnopil, located in the eastern Ukrainian province of Donetsk and main focus of the Russian troops’ advances. during the last months of an invasion that began almost three years ago. The Russian Defense Ministry has reported that the locality “has finally been liberated” by units deployed in the easternmost parts of the Ukrainian territory.
“The units have liberated the locality after defeating the mountain assault brigades and members of the 33rd mechanized brigade of the Ukrainian Army,” the Ministry said, explaining that the Kiev troops had suffered defeats in other areas of the province, such as Velika Novosilka, Temirovka, Novodonetsk and Zelenkoye Pole.
He also noted that the Russian Army has managed to “repel two counter-offensives” by Ukrainian forces and pointed to. 150 casualties among their ranks. To this is added the loss of an armored vehicle, seven military vehicles and a French ‘Caesar’ artillery unit.
Russian forces continue to intensify their offensive in eastern Ukraine, where they have succeeded in important advances despite the offensive launched in August by Ukrainian forces in the Russian region of Kursk, an attempt to divert the focus of the fighting from Ukrainian territory.
Nevertheless, the situation in Donetsk has led senior Ukrainian military commanders to speak of a “collapse” of the eastern front under the military pressure exerted by Moscow. Donetsk, along with Kherson, Lugansk and Zaporiyia, all partially occupied as part of the invasion, were annexed in October 2022 by Russia, a move not recognized by part of the international community which joined the 2014 annexation of the Crimean peninsula by Moscow.