Ukraine under heavy pressure Russians break through in the Donbass - Kiev's troops fall back

Under constant Russian attacks, the situation is becoming increasingly difficult for the defenders in eastern Ukraine. The Russian army reports further territorial gains - the Ukrainian troops are clearing their positions step by step.

With all their might and with heavy losses, Russian soldiers are racing towards the front over a width of 70 kilometers in the east and south of Donetsk. The gigantic toll in blood seems to be worth it for ruler Putin. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the attackers are said to have broken through the Ukrainian defensive lines in several places. However, the claims of both warring parties are difficult to verify.

In the south of the coal and industrial district of Donbass, the Ukrainian front has held out practically since the beginning of the invasion in 2022. This year, however, the city of Avdiivka was lost near the large city of Donetsk, followed by Vuhledar. Since then, the exhausted Ukrainian troops have been unable to halt the Russian advance, even though the Russians have suffered heavy losses. The towns of Kurakhivka and Kurakhove as well as Pokrovsk further north are now considered to be particularly threatened.

Russians capture small town of Selydowe

In its latest situation report, the Ukrainian General Staff spoke of 142 Russian assault attacks on Sunday alone. According to OSINT analyst Emil Kastehelmi, Ukraine had to withdraw from the town of Selydove. The Ukrainian military leadership has not yet confirmed the loss of Selydove.

The frontline city in the Donetsk region around 18 kilometers south-east of the logistically important city of Pokrovsk had been "completely liberated", the Ministry of Defense in Moscow declared on Tuesday. Before the start of the Russian offensive in Ukraine, Selydowe had a population of around 20,000. The surrender of Selydove marks the biggest loss for the Ukrainian army since the fall of Avdiivka.

Will Pokrovsk now fall?

Around 50 kilometers south of Pokrovsk, Ukrainian troops are also under pressure near the town of Hirnyk. This is also said to have been largely conquered by Russian units. Hirnyk has not appeared in the reports of the Ukrainian General Staff since Thursday. A good 10,000 people lived in the town before the war.

The loss of Pokrovsk would be a heavy loss for the defenders. The key town is a crucial logistics center for the Ukrainian troops due to its rail connection and the intersection of several important roads.

As a result of the massive Russian attacks, the water supply for around 260,000 people in the north of the Ukrainian region of Donetsk has been cut off "for an unforeseeable period of time". The cities of Sloviansk, Kramatorsk, Druzhkivka, Kostyantynivka and surrounding villages are affected, Governor Vadym Filashkin announced on Telegram.

"Our front has collapsed"

Russian military bloggers are already writing about the collapse of the Ukrainian front in the south of the Donetsk region. However, the situation is currently difficult to verify. In a video interview, however, Major General Dmytro Marchenko is unequivocal about the dramatic situation: "We all know that I am not betraying a military secret when I say that our front has collapsed." There is a lack of weapons, ammunition and soldiers. The soldiers are tired and cannot cover the front line where they are.

Since the beginning of October, the Russian army has advanced 478 square kilometers into Ukrainian territory. This is the largest territorial gain within a month since the first weeks after the start of the war in 2022, as the AFP news agency calculated using data from the US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW). Two thirds of Russia's territorial gains in October were in the Donetsk region.

The complete conquest of the Ukrainian administrative region of Donetsk is a declared war aim of the Kremlin. The region was already annexed for Russia in 2022, even if it was not fully occupied. If the last industrial cities in Donbass fall, an open and hard-to-defend steppe stretches to the west as far as the Dnipro River. This is where the major Ukrainian cities of Dnipro and Zaporizhia are located.

Article with material from dpa and AFP