“OTU “Luhansk” says that the enemy usually did not use equipment in this direction, but now the situation has changed”, — write: www.radiosvoboda.org
“The situation in Toretsk is now the most difficult, because literally since the beginning of this day, the enemy has conducted 11 assaults and some of them are still ongoing. It’s actually a very tense situation here. Battles are fought for each house. And you need to understand that somewhere they can advance by one house – and literally the next day we are already repelling this house,” she said on the air of the national telethon.
She noted that the enemy usually did not use equipment in this direction.
“However, now we see that on the northern outskirts of Toretsk, in the village of Nelipivka, the enemy is starting to use equipment. Over the past day, there have been battles with the use of anti-aircraft guns, buggies, and motorcycles. We did not observe this before, but now the enemy has become more active,” said the spokeswoman of Luhansk Technical University.
According to her, the Russian troops started using equipment near Chasov Yar, where, just like in Toretsk, there is great difficulty in using combat armored vehicles and tanks.
“They are not so effective in urban areas, and they are difficult to maneuver. Therefore, they are usually not used. However, for several days in a row, we have been observing such a situation, when a tank drives out opposite Chasovoy Yar, fires from closed positions and turns back. Not always. Literally every day we have a good catch. Recently, the T-90M Proryv was destroyed in this direction – it is the newest tank of the Russian Federation,” added Bobovnikova.
In recent months, the reports of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine constantly mention the Pokrovsky and Kurakhiv directions as the places of the most active attacks by Russian forces. These destinations are located in the west of Donetsk region near its border with Dnipropetrovsk region.
According to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), their priority remains unclear from the actions of the Russian military on the front line, as Russian President Vladimir Putin could have tasked the Russian army with securing territorial assets, rather than capturing large population centers.
ISW analysts, based on the study of geolocation data as of December 24, write that the Russian military is at a distance of about 10 kilometers from the border of Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk regions.