The command reports on 117 clashes at the front since the beginning of the day

Since the beginning of the day on January 17, there have been 117 combat clashes between the Defense Forces of Ukraine and the Russian military at the front, according to a new summary of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The Ukrainian command says that the Russian Federation carried out two airstrikes in the North-Slobozhansk and Kursk directions, dropping eight guided bombs, and carried out 64 attacks, including two from rocket salvo systems.

“On the Kupyansk direction, the enemy launched six attacks in the direction of Petropavlivka and Kurylivka. One battle is still going on. In the Lyman direction, the Defense Forces repulsed seven assaults in the areas of Myrny, Zarychny and towards the settlements of Novosergiivka, Stavka, Drobysheve, Lyman,” says the operational report of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

In addition, according to the General Staff, 14 combat clashes took place in the Kostyantynivka direction: “the enemy tried to storm the positions of Ukrainian units near the settlements of Oleksandro-Shultine, Shcherbynivka, Pleshchiivka, Rusyn Yar and in the direction of Ivanopil, Torskyi, Illinivka and Sofiivka, two combat clashes remain unfinished.”

“In the Pokrovsky direction, since the beginning of this day, the enemy has attacked 35 times in the areas of Nikanorivka, Rodynske, Sukhetske, Myrnograd, Pokrovsk, Rivne, Kotlyna, Udachne, Molodetske and in the direction of Novopavlivka and Filia. In some locations, fighting continues,” the report said.

At the same time, 19 skirmishes took place in the Gulyaipil direction in the areas of the settlements of Solodke, Gulyaipole, Dorozhnyanka and in the direction of Dobropill, Varvarivka, and Zeleny. Rizdvyanka, Zelena Dibrova, Dolinka and Zaliznychne were hit by Russian airstrikes.

According to the American Institute for the Study of War, Russian forces increased their average rate of advance in 2025 thanks to the new operational pattern, but did not achieve their priority objectives in the specified time frames.

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