Russian Forces Liberate Novi Trud as They Advance Towards Pokrovsk
A Russian tank. X/ @sputnik_afrique
December 25, 2024 Hour: 7:29 am
They are paving the way for a final offensive in 2025 against Kramatorsk and Sloviansk.
On Wednesday, the Russian Army liberated a locality just four kilometers south of the stronghold of Pokrovsk, the main target of the current Russian military operation in the Donbas.
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Units from the Tsentr (Center) military grouping managed to take control of Novi Trud, a small village with just over one hundred inhabitants. The Russian Defense Ministry highlighted that its troops inflicted significant losses on the enemy in other localities and repelled up to ten enemy counterattacks.
Russian forces are aiming to complete the encirclement of Pokrovsk while advancing toward Kostiantynivka, paving the way for a final offensive in 2025 against Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, the main strongholds of the Ukrainian Army in the Donetsk region.
The Russian General Staff estimated that their troops have conquered 4,500 square kilometers of territory this year. According to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), Russia still needs to capture approximately 8,000 square kilometers to completely take over the Donetsk region.
On Wednesday, the Russian Defense Ministry also reported that its air defenses shot down 59 Ukrainian fixed-wing drones over five regions of the country.
Most of the drones downed overnight were destroyed in the Belgorod region (26) and the Voronezh region (23), both bordering Ukraine. The remaining drones were shot down over the territories of Kursk (3), Bryansk (3), and Tambov (3) regions, as well as the waters of the Sea of Azov (1).
Last night’s Ukrainian drone attack was the largest since Dec. 19, when Russia reported the downing of 84 drones across seven regions. On that occasion, Ukrainian drones caused a fire at the Novoshakhtinsk oil refinery, the most important in southern Russia, located in the Rostov region, which borders Ukraine.
teleSUR/ JF Source: EFE
