Russia accelerates to gain strategic position, controlling 1/5 of Ukraine's territory

(Dan Tri) - Russia announced that it will continue to control areas in Donbass in an effort to advance on the eastern front in Ukraine.

Russian soldiers opened fire on Ukrainian forces (Photo: Sputnik).

The Russian Defense Ministry announced on January 18 that Russian forces had taken control of two more settlements in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, the latest in a series of advances Russia has recorded in its steady westward advance.

A statement from the Russian Defense Ministry said Russian forces now controlled Petropavlivka, an area between the towns of Pokrovsk and Kurakhove, which have been flashpoints of fighting in recent months in Donetsk.

The Russian Defense Ministry statement also mentioned taking control of Vremivka, one of the smaller towns further south in the Donetsk region.

According to the Russian Defense Ministry, Russian forces attacked Ukrainian military facilities with high-precision weapons. The move was in response to Ukraine's attack on Russia's southern Belgorod region with US-made ATACMS missiles.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian military statements also confirmed fierce fighting near the strategic city of Pokrovsk.

Deep State, a popular Ukrainian war blog that regularly documents changes in the positions of Russia and Ukraine using open-source documents, said both Petropavlivka and Vremivka are under Russian control.

Viktor Trehubov, a spokesman for the Khortytsya, or Eastern, forces of the Ukrainian military, earlier this week denied reports that Russian forces had entered Pokrovsk.

"There are no developments in Pokrovsk, everything is stable. The enemy is not there," the spokesman said.

The Russian military is concentrating all its resources to gain control of the entire Donbas region - including the Donetsk and Lugansk regions.

In a report on the night of January 18, the General Staff of the Ukrainian army said that Russian forces were trying to penetrate Ukrainian defenses by launching 84 attacks in the Pokrovsk region. 14 fierce clashes were taking place in this area.

The report lists a series of villages in the area that Russia has attacked, including three that the Russian military said it had captured in the past week and another that Russia said it took control of last month.

Location of Donbass region (Photo: Economist).

Losing control of the stronghold of Pokrovsk could have far-reaching consequences for Ukraine, not only militarily but also economically .

Pokrovsk lies at the crossroads of major transport routes, making it an important logistics center for the Ukrainian military.

The city is a bridge between Kramatorsk, Slavyansk and other strategically important settlements in the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine. Its fall could destabilize defense lines and complicate the resupply of Kiev's forces.

One of Pokrovsk's main resources is the Pokrovskoe mine, Ukraine's largest producer of coking coal. This raw material plays an important role in Ukraine's metallurgical industry.

Pokrovsk is one of the few major population centers in Donbass still under Kiev's control, and the only one west of Donetsk. The city was once a major supply center for Ukraine's frontline fortifications, but as Russian forces continued to push westward, it became part of Kiev's frontline.

Moscow claims to have annexed Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region and sees control of Pokrovsk as a crucial stepping stone to incorporating the entire region into Russia.

President Zelensky has admitted that Russian forces control one-fifth of Ukraine's territory, including four regions on the mainland: Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. Moscow has announced the annexation of these four regions along with the Crimean peninsula in southern Ukraine after referendums.

Russia has controlled Crimea since 2014. However, Ukraine has vowed to take back all the territory Moscow has controlled.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-gioi/nga-tang-toc-gianh-vi-tri-chien-luoc-kiem-soat-15-lanh-tho-ukraine-20250119102558924.htm