General Staff: since the beginning of the day, there have been 97 clashes, almost half of them in the Pokrovsky direction

Since the beginning of the day, 97 combat clashes have been recorded at the front. Most attacks by the Russian army took place in the Pokrovsky direction, according to the summary of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on January 17, as of 16:00.

“In the Pokrovsky direction, since the beginning of the day, the Russian invaders have made 41 attempts to dislodge our defenders from their occupied positions in the areas of Zeleny Pol, Vodyanny Drugo, Elizavetivka, Promeny, Lysivka, Shevchenko, Zvirovo, Udachny, Uspenivka, Srybny, Dachny, Ulakli, and Yantarny. The defense forces restrained the onslaught and repelled 27 enemy attacks, 14 clashes are still ongoing,” the post states.

According to the headquarters, in the direction of Kramatorsk, the Russian army is trying to advance in the area of ​​Chasovoy Yar and in the direction of Stupochki and Bila Hora. Eight of the 16 attacks were repelled by units of the Defense Forces, and the fighting continues.

“On the Lymanskyi direction, during the day, the invading army carried out 11 attacks on Ukrainian positions near Kopanok, Tverdokhlibovo, Makiivka and Terny. “Five clashes have continued so far,” the Armed Forces say.

Russian troops also advanced in the Kharkiv, Kupyan, Lyman, Siver, Toretsk, Dnieper directions and in the Kursk region of the Russian Federation.

According to the DeepState project, the Russian army again advanced near Velika Novosilka – this time in Vremivka, southwest of the village.
The “gray zone” thus crossed the southern outskirts of the village, and therefore, the aggressor was most likely able to enter Velika Novosilka and start fighting there.

Velika Novosilka is the last relatively large outpost of the Defense Forces in the south of Donbas. Here, the Armed Forces of Ukraine recaptured some territories in the summer of 2023, and Russia began its assaults in response in the fall of 2024.

The DeepState project and the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reported that the Russian army in the first days of 2025 is actively capturing new territories to the south, southeast and east of Pokrovsk.

Viktor Tregubov, the spokesman for the Khortytsia operational-strategic group of troops, reported that Russian troops are trying to bypass the city of Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region in order to break logistical chains and take the city under operational encirclement.