Russia's northern pincer in Donetsk Oblast has effectively been routed – Ukrainian commander

Brigadier General Andrii Biletskyi, Commander of Ukraine's 3rd Army Corps, has said the "northern pincer" of Russian forces, which was meant to encircle Ukrainian fortress cities in Donetsk Oblast, has effectively been routed.

Source: Biletskyi on air, reported by Ukrinform, a Ukrainian news agency

Quote from Biletskyi: "The Russians had a plan for the Donetsk front: to encircle the fortress cities from the north and south. From the south, the encirclement was to come through Dobropillia; from the north, it was to come through the salient that is now being cut off, towards Sviatohirsk and then on to Barvinkove. That is where the two Russian pincers – the Dobropillia pincer from the south and the Sviatohirsk pincer from the north – were supposed to meet."

Details: Biletskyi reported that Russian infiltration near Dobropillia was stopped last year and that the situation there remains difficult but under control.

Quote: "The northern pincer has effectively been routed and destroyed."

More details: Biletskyi also pointed out that it is now critically important to "paralyse logistics, paralyse the rear and not give the Russians the opportunity to renew this advance".

Quote: "Then they'll have to assault the Sloviansk-Kramatorsk and Druzhkivka-Kostiantynivka agglomeration head-on. And assaulting these cities head-on is a far more painful and costly undertaking for them than trying to encircle them and effectively... take them without a fight."

Background:

• On 26 August, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that Ukrainian positions in Donetsk Oblast will be reinforced by two restructured military groupings, which are to be led by Denys Prokopenko and Andrii Biletskyi.
• On 7 September, Andrii Biletsky recorded a video address from the centre of Sviatohirsk in Donetsk Oblast, with the Holy Dormition Sviatohirsk Lavra in the background, following claims by Kremlin ruler Vladimir Putin that the city had been "captured".
• On 15 September, the 3rd Army Corps reported mopping up 75 sq km and liberating a further 10 sq km as part of counteroffensive operations in the northern part of Donetsk Oblast.

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