Ukraine conducting “stabilization measures” near Donetsk’s Velyka Novosilka to prevent Makarivka encirclement
The Ukrainian Defense Forces are implementing stabilization measures and working to prevent encirclement near Makarivka, close to Velyka Novosilka, RFE/RL reports on 24 December. The villages are situated southwest of Kurakhove in Donetsk oblast about 75 kilometers from the regional capital.
For months, Russia has been pushing to capture the remaining parts of Donetsk Oblast, with a focus on Pokrovsk, Kurakhove and other Ukrainian strongholds.
Vladyslav Voloshyn, spokesperson for the Southern Defense Forces, told Radio Liberty that forces are conducting stabilization measures and attempting to restore positions while maintaining active defense.
“We are conducting a stabilization operation there, striving to prevent our troops from being surrounded or semi-encircled, so that the front line, the line of combat contact, is such that we can reach each unit, each of our formations… to communicate with them, to have logistical routes with them.” Voloshyn said.
Voloshyn described the situation as “quite difficult but not hopeless,” adding that Ukrainian soldiers are “holding their ground and striving to halt the enemy in this direction.”
Earlier this week, Ukrainian media, citing an OSINT map by Deep State analysts, reported that Makarivka, south of Velyka Novosilka in Donetsk Oblast, was completely surrounded.
On 23 December, the Khortytsia Operational-Strategic Group of Troops refuted these claims, stating that reports of Ukraine’s Defense Forces being encircled in Makarivka on the Vremivka front were inaccurate.
Today, Deep State stated:
“The enemy occupied Makarivka, Sukhi Yaly and Zelenivka, and advanced near Stari Terny, Novodarivka, Vovkove, Novovasylivka, Novoyelizavetivka, Novoolenivka, Ukrainka, Zorya, Storozhove and Kurakhove,” the analysts wrote, adding that “[Ukraine’s] Defense Forces broke out of Makarivka, as of 23.12 there are no surrounded units in the village.”
Currently, both major Ukrainian interactive war map projects, LiveUAMap and Deep State mark Makarivka as occupied by the Russian forces:
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