Moscow Announces Control of Seversk as Offensive Nears Key Slovyansk–Kramatorsk Axis

Russia has taken control of the city of Seversk, one of the last fortified positions in Donbas, opening the route toward an assault on the Slovyansk–Kramatorsk urban area. This follows a statement released by the Ministry of Defense of Russia.

Photo: flickr.com by The U.S. Army, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

Special military operation

Information about Ukraine’s loss of the city surfaced on December 11 in the report delivered by Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov to President Vladimir Putin. However, the Ministry of Defense confirmed Russian control of the city only today, December 12.

The defense ministry reported that troops from the “South” military grouping took part in the fighting for Seversk. According to the announcement, Ukrainian forces lost more than 1,095 soldiers, 24 armored vehicles, and eight field artillery pieces in this sector over the past week.

With Seversk under its control, Russia gains a strategic position that allows it to begin operations against Slovyansk and Kramatorsk, the remaining Ukrainian strongholds in the region.

Advance in Kharkiv Region

Earlier reports stated that Russian troops also entered another settlement — the village of Kurylivka in the Kharkiv region.