“Since the beginning of the day on December 2, 131 combat clashes have been recorded at the front, most of which occur in three directions in the Donetsk region. Despite intense attacks by Russian troops, Ukrainian defense forces hold back the onslaught, and official Kyiv refutes the Kremlin’s claims about the capture of Pokrovsk and Vovchansk”, — write: www.radiosvoboda.org
“Border settlements, including Bleshnya, Tymonovichi, Senkivka, Khrinivka of the Chernihiv region, suffered from artillery shelling from the territory of the Russian Federation; Malushyne, Shalygyne, Novovasylivka of the Sumy region,” says the summary as of 4:00 p.m.
Most of the fighting was recorded in three directions in the Donetsk region – Pokrovsky, Lymanskyi and Kostiantynivskyi.
“On the Lymanskyi direction, the invading army attacked 29 times in the areas of Novovodyane, Novoyehorivka, Grekivka, Novomykhailivka, Serednye, Karpivka, Shandrigolovo, Kolodyazi, Myrne, Zarichne, and in the direction of Stepovoy. Seven clashes are currently ongoing.
In the direction of Kostyantynivka, our soldiers stopped 21 offensive actions of the enemy, in the areas of the settlements of Aleksandro-Shultine, Pleshchiivka, Shcherbynivka, Yablunivka and Rusyn Yar, two skirmishes are still ongoing.
In the Pokrovsky direction, since the beginning of the day, the occupiers have made 36 attempts to dislodge our defenders from their occupied positions in the areas of Volodymyrivka, Mayak, Rodynske, Chervyn Liman, Novoeknomichne, Pokrovsk, Kotlyne, Udachne, Molodetske, Dachne and towards Novopavlivka. The defense forces are restraining the onslaught of the enemy and have already stopped 32 attacks,” the message states.
Battles also continued in the North-Slobozhansk and Kursk, South-Slobozhansk, Kupyansk, Slovyansk, Oleksandrivsk, and Gulyaipil directions.
On December 1, the Kremlin announced that on the evening of November 30, Russian leader Vladimir Putin visited one of the command posts of the joint group of Russian forces fighting in Ukraine, where the Russian command allegedly informed him about the capture of the cities of Pokrovska and Vovchansk, in the Donetsk and Kharkiv regions of Ukraine, respectively.
The authorities of Ukraine deny such reports. On the evening of December 1, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi, speaking in Paris with French President Emmanuel Macron, emphasized that all these cities remain under the control of Ukraine. “Definitely, there are advances in Russia, certainly there are several offensive actions and operations in Russia. None of these operations was successful,” Zelenskyi said at a press conference with Macron.
However, he admitted that the situation in Pokrovsk and other areas “remains difficult.”
Pokrovsk – a city with a population of about 1,250 people (estimated by the local authorities at the end of October, before the start of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation – more than 60,000) – is an important road and railway junction and was under threat of encirclement by Russian troops for most of the year.