“Since the beginning of December 28, 103 combat clashes have been recorded on the front, a third of which were in the Pokrovsky direction, where the Russian forces made 34 breakthrough attempts. The General Staff reports on artillery shelling in Chernihiv and Sumy regions, fighting continues in several other areas of the front line”, — write: www.radiosvoboda.org
“The enemy from the territory of the Russian Federation launched artillery fire on the areas of the settlements of Bleshnya, Chernihiv region; Ulanov, Ryzhivka, Bila Bereza, Iskryskivshchyna, Brusky, Volfine, Rogizne, Kucherivka, Vovkivka, Bachivsk, Progress of the Sumy region,” the summary as of 4:00 p.m. states.
A third of the battles were recorded in the Pokrovsky direction in the Donetsk region.
“In the Pokrovsky direction, since the beginning of the day, the occupiers have made 34 attempts to dislodge Ukrainian defenders from their occupied positions in the areas of the settlements of Chervyn Liman, Myrnograd, Pokrovsk, Kotlyna, Udachne, Molodetske, Filia and towards the settlements of Novopavlivka, Novye Shakhove, Rodynske, Serhiivka. Nine clashes are ongoing,” the General Staff said in a statement.
Battles also continued in the North-Slobozhansk and Kursk, South-Slobozhansk, Kupyansk, Lymansk, Slavyansk, Kramatorsk, Kostiantynivsk, Oleksandrivsk, Gulyaipilsk and Orihiv directions.
On December 17, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Oleksandr Syrskyi, stated 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.