Russia Holds Strategic Initiative Along the Frontline: Putin
President Vladimir Putin, 2024. X/ @SannnewsCom
December 16, 2024 Hour: 7:30 am
Currently, Ukraine controls only 25% to 30% of the Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions.
On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed that the Russian army has liberated 189 localities during the special military operation in Ukraine so far this year.
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Russian troops hold the strategic initiative along the entire frontline in Ukraine, he said while addressing the senior command of the Armed Forces and the Ministry of Defense.
“Thanks to the professionalism and courage of our soldiers, the heroic efforts of defense industry workers, and the public’s support for the army and navy, Russian troops are firmly maintaining the strategic initiative along the entire frontline,” the president stated.
Defense Minister Andrei Belousov emphasized that Ukraine controls only 25% to 30% of the Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions, and just 1% of the Luhansk region.
“Russian units are advancing in several directions… With the liberation of Shevchenko, the position of our units has significantly improved,” said the leader of the Donetsk People’s Republic, Denis Pushilin.
Shevchenko, an urban-type settlement with just over 1,600 inhabitants before the war, is located less than nine kilometers south of Pokrovsk. This city, with a pre-war population of over 60,000, is an important mining center and the primary target of the current Russian offensive in Donetsk.
Additionally, the Russian army is on the verge of capturing the locality of Kurakhove, which would effectively grant it control over nearly the entire southern Donbas region.
teleSUR/ JF Source: EFE
