Russian Army Advances Leaving Kiev With No Hope

The Ukrainian defense in Donbas is falling apart. Retreating in all directions, the Ukrainian army is losing from five to a dozen kilometers daily. After the Russian army took control of one of the main strongholds of Ugledar, the Ukrainian military switched to a focal defense on the southern front of the Donetsk People’s Republic. The Armed Forces of Ukraine have no solid line of defense and no necessary reserves. As a result of the recent breakthrough, the Russian Army took control of Bogoyavlenka, where the Ukrainian command hoped to restrain a further Russian advance. West of Ugledar, the Russians took control of Shakhterskoye. They are knocking Ukrainians out from Novoukrainka advancing on a wide front between the two villages. North of Ugledar, the Ukrainian army lost control of Katerinovka and battles began in neighboring Elizavetovka. The advancing Russian units cut the important road leading to Kurakhovo from the south. The rapid Russian advance paves the way for the encirclement of Velikaya Novoselka from the north, which deprives Kiev of the slightest hope of any counteroffensive to the coast of the Sea of Azov to Mariupol. At the same time, the Russians are threatening the Ukrainian garrison in Kurakhovo with encirclement from the south. While fighting is already ongoing in the eastern part of the town, Ukrainian forces are ground down in cauldrons north of the city. On October 27, the Russian Ministry of Defense officially confirmed control of Izmailovka. The resisting Ukrainian forces in Kremennaya Balka are in a pincer grip. The Russians are completing mop up operations in Gornyak. Fighting has reached Kurakhovka. Ukrainian forces are retreating, unable to counterattack. In the Pokrovsk direction, after a partial encirclement and a week of heavy urban battles, another fortress, the city of Selidovo, fell. The Russian flag flies over the local administration building. The last Ukrainian units are leaving the city. Russians are completing the mop up operation on northwestern outskirts. Ukrainian positions are no better in other directions, including in the Russian Kursk region. However, unlike Ukrainian soldiers, who are fleeing from their positions under Russian fire, Kiev’s propaganda is not discouraged. Amid the new heavy defeats, the Ukrainian media spread reports about another Ukrainian counteroffensive coming. Zelensky allegedly demands the General Staff to launch the so-called “offensive of hope” in early November. Details regarding in which direction and by what forces the Ukrainians could attack are not yet disclosed. Earlier Zelensky reportedly promised Biden two offensive operations before the start of the US election. The first bloody PR campaign was the failed invasion in the Kursk region, but the second one is yet to come. Given the reality, there is little hope for a Ukrainian “offensive of hope”.