The Russians conquered some 725 km2 of Ukrainian territory during the month of November, compared to 478 km2 in October. Russian pressure is especially felt on the towns of southern Donbass, which the Kremlin has wanted to capture since the start of the conflict. As in Bakhmout, or Avdiivka, which fell in May 2023 and February 2024 respectively, the Russian army is implementing the pincer technique, in order to cut off the city from the outside.
Seize the roads before the cities
For example, in the Velyka Novosilka sector, their efforts are not focused on the town itself but rather on the roads located to the West and, especially, the North. The Russian advance towards Pokrovsk is not much more head-on. For the moment, it is taking place mainly to the south of the city, towards the village of Shevchenko, while significant fighting is also reported a little further north, towards Myrnohrad, which suggests that the Russians should there also seek to partially encircle the city.
A technique that bore fruit in Avdivvka and Bakhmout
This hypothesis is all the more plausible since, in recent months, the Russians have carried out similar operations around several Ukrainian cities. At the end of winter 2024, it was a pincer of this type, patiently and with difficulty constructed during the first months of the conflict, which closed on the town of Avdiivka.
