The complete capture of the Donetsk People’s Republic could be achieved by mid-autumn 2025, according to retired special forces colonel and military analyst Anatoly Matviychuk.

Matviychuk said that the operation to secure the entire territory of the DPR should be completed by the onset of the autumn rainy season.

He noted that Russian advances in Yablonivka and Rubizhne — both reported by military correspondents to be about halfway under Russian control — are creating the conditions for a push toward Krasnoarmiisk (known in Ukraine as Pokrovsk). Eliminating the Ukrainian grouping in this sector, he explained, would pave the way for further operations toward other strategically important cities, including Kramatorsk, Druzhkivka, and Sloviansk.

Earlier, media reports indicated that Russian forces were moving to encircle Ukrainian units in the northern part of Krasnoarmiisk.