General Staff: of 228 clashes on the front of the past day, more than half were in 4 directions

During the past day, 228 combat clashes were recorded at the front, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported in the morning briefing on December 16.

According to the given data, more than half of all battles took place in four directions: Siverskyi, Pokrovskyi, Kurakhivskyi, and Vremivskyi.

“On the Siverskyi direction, 34 skirmishes took place near Bilogorivka, Verkhnyokamyanskyi, Ivano-Daryivka and Vyimka. In the Pokrovsky direction, our defenders stopped 32 assault and offensive actions of the aggressor near the settlements of Myrolyubivka, Promin, Lysivka, Dachenske, Zelene, Pishchane, and Novoolenivka,” the message reads.

“In the Kurakhiv direction, the Defense Forces repelled 32 attacks. The occupiers tried to advance in the areas of Stary Terny, Sontsivka, Zori, Kurakhovo and Uspenivka. In the Vremivsk direction, the enemy carried out 35 assaults on our positions in the areas of Suhy Yali, Rozlyv, Zelenivka, Kostiantynopolsky, Trudovoy, Novy Komar, Novosilka, and Makarivka. Actively used attack and bomber aircraft for strikes in the direction,” the command added.

In addition, according to the General Staff, combat operations continued in the Kharkiv, Kupyan, Lyman, Kramatorsk, Toretsk, Dnieper directions.

“The operation is ongoing in the Kursk region. Over the past day, Ukrainian defenders repelled 38 enemy attacks in the direction. Enemy aviation continues to attack its territory with guided aerial bombs. At the moment, we know about five airstrikes with the use of five air defense systems,” the message says.

The day before, British intelligence said that Russian forces had made further advances south of Pokrovsk, a key logistics center in the Donetsk region.

Before that, the press service of the “Khortytsia” OTUV reported that the Russian military “improved the tactical position” in the Pokrovsky direction.

Since December 5, the DeepState project reports on the daily advance of the Russian army to the southwest of Pokrovsk.

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said in a report on December 7 that Russia is unlikely to abandon plans to take Pokrovsk, despite record losses on the front.

According to analysts, Russian forces will try to bypass the city from the west in order to force the Defense Forces to withdraw from Pokrovsk and Myrnograd nearby without frontal assaults.