The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the situation at the front: a third of all battles were in the Pokrovsky direction

Since the beginning of the day, 63 combat clashes have taken place at the front, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reports operational information as of 4:00 p.m.

According to the headquarters, a third of the battles took place in the Pokrovsky direction, where the Russian forces attacked the positions of Ukrainian defenders 20 times in the areas of the settlements of Rodynske, Chervyn Lyman, Rivne, Pokrovsk, Udachne, Molodetske, Filia and in the direction of the settlements of Sukhetske, Hryshyn and Novopavlivka, fighting continues in five locations.

In the direction of Kostiantynivka, the enemy attacked Ukrainian defenders near Oleksandr-Shultyny, Shcherbynivka, Pleshchiivka, and in the direction of Kostiantynivka, Stepanivka, Novopavlivka, and Sofiivka. The defense forces repelled nine attacks, two more combat clashes are still ongoing.

11 combat clashes were recorded in the Gulyaipil direction. The occupiers advanced in the areas of the settlements of Solodke, Gulyaipole and in the direction of Varvarivka, in five locations the fighting has not subsided until now.

Fighting continues in the South-Slobozhansk, Kupyansk, Lymansk, Slovyansk, Prydniprovsk and Oleksandrivsk directions.

At the moment, no Russian offensive actions have been recorded in the Kramatorsk direction.

Since the beginning of the day, the enemy has not carried out offensive actions in the Orykhiv direction, but has hit the settlements of Orykhiv and Zaporizhzhia with anti-aircraft missiles.

Read also: Muzhenko explained the importance of the struggle for Pokrovsk and Kupyansk

On December 17, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Oleksandr Syrskyi, said that the enemy had increased the group to the number of about 710,000 soldiers in order to conduct a strategic offensive operation.

According to him, Russian troops have been trying to capture Pokrovsk for more than 17 months, but Ukrainian units are holding the defense and intercepting the initiative.

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.