“The soldiers of the 48th OSHB defending Pokrovsk called on Syrskyi to prevent the replacement of the commander January 18, 11:31 Share: The soldiers of the 48th OSHB defending Pokrovsk called on Syrskyi not to allow the replacement of commander Lenur Islyamov (Photo: Office of the President of Ukraine) Fighters 48 of the separate assault battalion named after Noman Chelebijihan appealed to the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Oleksandr Syrskyi with a request to prevent the replacement of their commander Lenur Islyamov. In his address, published”, — write on: ua.news
The servicemen of the 48th OSHB defending Pokrovsk called on Sirskyi to prevent the replacement of commander Lenur Islyamov (Photo: Office of the President of Ukraine)
Fighters of the 48th separate assault battalion named after Noman Chelebidzhikhan appealed to the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Oleksandr Syrskyi with a request to prevent the replacement of their commander Lenur Islyamov.
In their appeal, published on Facebook, they emphasized that since the formation of the battalion, which was formed mainly from volunteers, they have participated in the fiercest battles. The battalion proved its effectiveness, not losing a single position and successfully conducting dozens of assault operations, liberating populated areas in Donetsk region.
The fighters reported that 10 days ago they were transferred from one hot direction to another — to Pokrovsk. It is noted that despite the difficult conditions and the lack of proper intelligence, the unit carried out the order.
However, at this time, the command made a decision to replace their commander. Lenur Islyamov, according to the military, was the one who formed a battalion of 90% volunteers, most of whom are from Crimea and other occupied territories.
Fighters emphasize that a change of commander at a critical moment can threaten the battalion’s combat effectiveness and undermine trust within the team.
“We consider this decision inadmissible during the active phase of the war. In this way, you simply destroy an active, effective combat unit, ready to follow its commander,” the appeal reads.
The 48th separate assault battalion named after Noman Chelebidzhikhan is a unit of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, formed mostly from residents of the southern regions of Ukraine. Its creation began in early 2016 during the civil blockade of the administrative border with temporarily occupied Crimea. The battalion is named in honor of Noman Chelebijihan, a prominent Crimean Tatar politician, public figure, the first head of the government of the Crimean People’s Republic, the organizer of the First Kurultay of the Crimean Tatar people and the first mufti of the Muslims of Crimea, Lithuania, Poland and Belarus.
What is known about the situation in the Pokrovsky direction
On January 10, Serhii Dobryak, the head of the Pokrovsk city military administration, said that the front line is a couple of kilometers from Pokrovsk, Donetsk region. Almost all critical infrastructure in the city has been destroyed.
On January 12, Ukrainian Pravda reported that Russian troops had changed tactics in the Pokrovsky direction and were trying to bypass the city from the south to the west in order to enter the Dnipropetrovsk region.
At the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reported on January 14 that Russian forces had already cut several routes to the southwest and east of Pokrovsk — probably in an attempt to cover Pokrovsk and Myrnograd in order to disrupt the logistics of the Defense Forces of Ukraine and force them to withdraw from the cities without a fight.
On January 16, it became known that the shaft of the mine in Pokrovsk was blown up in front of the workers so that the Russian invaders could not reach the underground tunnels. This mine is the only one in Ukraine where coking coal, necessary for the steel industry, was mined.