"Infantry Encircled": Why the Uspenivka pocket formed. The Situation on the Kurakhove axis

The Russians are storming the village of Uspenivka, which is up to 10 km from Kurakhovo. The presence of the occupiers has already been recorded in this village, now they are trying to capture it completely. The number of enemy infantry in the area is constantly growing.

Having captured Uspenivka, the Russians will be able to close the "pocket" of Yelyzavetivka – Romanivka – Veselyi Gai – Hannivka, in which the Ukrainian defenders found themselves. "More than 100 infantrymen from two units are already surrounded. As of now, they may still leave on foot or not leave at all," an officer familiar with the situation in this area tells LIGA.net .

CORRECTED: From the beginning, we mistakenly indicated the distance between Kurakhove and Uspenivka as 70 km. The village around which hostilities are currently taking place is 10 km away (in total, there are two settlements named Uspenivka in the same direction).

The "Khortytsia" military district headquarters assures that there is no operational encirclement, Ukrainian units are repelling assaults on the outskirts of Uspenivka, Hannivka, Trudove, and Romanivka, "taking all necessary measures to counter their capture or encirclement by the enemy."

The servicemen, with whom LIGA.net spoke on the evening of December 13, explain: there is no point in keeping people in this bag anymore. As is the order to retreat.

What is happening in the Kurakhiv direction – briefly.

WHAT HAPPENED. The Russians are making every effort to take control of Kurakhove, says LIGA.net, spokesman for the Khortytsia Regional Administrative District (OSUV) Nazar Voloshyn.

"The enemy is trying to occupy the dominant heights, take control of the roads leading to Kurakhove, and break through the city's defenses," he specifies. "The Russian army is intensively shelling the city, using anti-aircraft guns and artillery."

As of the evening of December 13, there were 18 combat clashes in the Kurakhiv direction, the spokesman for "Khortytsia" adds. The Russians are most actively trying to advance in the areas of Stary Terni, Sontsivka, Zory, Kurakhiv, Dalny, Dachny, Hannivka, and Uspenivka.

After the Russians began to intensively storm Uspenivka, Ukrainian military personnel in neighboring Hannivka and Yelyzavetivka effectively found themselves surrounded, an officer familiar with the situation on this section of the front told LIGA.net anonymously:

"They were already repelling attacks from the north, east, and south. But after one of the roads leading out of this "bag" came under enemy control, they are fighting in a circle."

This information was confirmed by three military personnel from the direction.

Drones no longer reach villages that are surrounded, an officer from another unit adds to LIGA.net . There is no longer any opportunity to support and assist the infantry there.

A third source tells LIGA.net that these forces still have a chance to leave. "We still have one way. But how long this will last is difficult to predict," he explains. "The defense forces are trying to stabilize the situation. We'll see if it works out."

He adds: once surrounded, the infantry can fight normally and destroy the enemy. But for this it needs to occupy a more suitable line of defense. There is no point in fighting in Hannivka and Yelizavetovka anymore – the villages are broken.

"At the level of brigade commanders, they report on the situation and the situation that has developed. But no commands are coming from the Vugledar tactical group," he notes.

WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT. The situation in the Kurakhovo area is clearly difficult, confirms LIGA.net the founder of the Reaktivna Poshta organization, military expert Pavlo Narozhnyi.

"The enemy is trying to use their standard tactics to bypass the city from the flanks," he notes. "After the Russians blew up the dam of the Kurakhiv reservoir, they were able to achieve success on the northern flank, they threw back our defenders there. Now we control about 50% of Kurakhiv, which is already almost completely destroyed."

An officer from one of the units that continues to hold Kurakhovo tells LIGA.net : the situation with the encirclement in the administrative center may repeat itself.

"From Stary Terny we are almost semi-encircled, the Russians are bypassing us from the north," the officer states. "And in the near future, if nothing is done there, our brigade will also find itself in a kind of encirclement. We are trying to hold half of Kurakhovo with morale and willpower. We are fighting, we are doing something. But for now – that's it."

WHAT'S NEXT? All LIGA.net interlocutors add: the main reason for the situation that developed near Uspenivka and Kurakhove is the shortage of people in the army.

"Because of this, we have a lower density of infantry positions. And the Russians can simply infiltrate between them," says an officer from Kurakhovo. "They are constantly bringing in reinforcements – both with equipment and small infantry groups. Considering that it is now raining and snowing, we cannot fully use drones for reconnaissance. Therefore, on our side, there is no such effectiveness in the means of impression. And the Russians take advantage of this."

It is unlikely that the Defense Forces will have enough forces to counterattack in this direction, Narozhnyi notes. "I do not believe that reserves will appear somewhere there now that we can throw on the flanks and the front, and that we will be able to throw back the Russians. They have already entered and, most likely, have even established themselves in this area," he explains.

However, the situation in Kurakhove should not be considered separately from Pokrovsk, the military expert adds. If the Russians are able to capture Kurakhove, they will most likely move on to Pokrovsk, not the Dnipropetrovsk region.

"For the enemy, the main thing now is the Donetsk region, Donbas," Narozhnyi is convinced. "So now they are leveling the front line and will then move on to Pokrovsk."