The situation in Donbas remains tense, and the latest fighting near Donetsk is taking on particular significance for both sides of the conflict. The focus is on the Pokrovske direction, where the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) are fighting fiercely on the southern flank of the Russian offensive, and the strategic importance of Selidove is becoming increasingly apparent.
First, for Halytsynivka. Judging by reports from both Russian and Ukrainian military publications, Russian troops control most of the village, which covered the already lost AFU Karlivka from the south - a large Ukrainian fortified area west of Avdiivka with a reservoir. Now it has passed into Russian hands.
According to the Deep State map, only the south of Halytsynivka is under Ukrainian control. The rest of the territory is either under the Russian Federation or in a gray zone (i.e., fighting is ongoing there).
The goal of these battles, as Russian publications write, is to oust the Ukrainian Armed Forces from another long-held stronghold – in Nevelske. This salient is the last large territory controlled by Ukraine closest to Donetsk.
In the rear of Nevelske to the west, there are only two villages – Bazhane Pershe and Druge. They are located 2 and 3 kilometers south of Halytsynivka, respectively. Their capture will be equivalent to the operational encirclement of the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the Nevelske salient, since the only roads left to supply Ukrainian units there, which are shot through to the north of Krasnohorivka.
And, according to Russian Telegram channels, Russian troops are already fighting for Bazhane Pershe. They also claim that Ukrainian troops have already begun withdrawing from Nevelske to the west to avoid being surrounded. But there is no confirmation of this yet.
At the same time, a more strategically threatening situation is developing for the Armed Forces of Ukraine to the west - in the area of Selydovoye and Novogrodivka. From these settlements, as we have already written, a road opens to the southwest - bypassing the rear of the entire second line of defense of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to the west of Donetsk, which rests on Ukrainy, Hirnyk, and Kurakhove.
After the rapid fall of Novogrodivka, the Ukrainian command apparently realized this threat, so according to various sources, reserves were transferred to the defense of Selidove and the Russians did not immediately succeed in taking the city. Fierce fighting has been going on there for several days, during which the Russian troops managed to cling to the outskirts of the city and are now trying to break through to the center. But, as Russian publications write, the Armed Forces of Ukraine here, unlike Novogrodivka, are putting up fierce resistance.
But in general, let us repeat, the activation of Russian troops is noticeable not in the direction of Pokrovsk and Myrnograd, but to the south - towards Nevelske, Krasnohorivka, and Kurakhovo.
