Russian forces have taken control of two more settlements: Zorevka in the Zaporozhye region and Novogrishino in the Donetsk People’s Republic, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.

In the Zaporozhye sector, the Vostok group of forces is continuing its advance. Zorevka lies close to the border with the Dnepropetrovsk region, about two kilometers west of Novoye Pole, which the Defense Ministry said was liberated on August 11.

Around 60 people lived in the village before the fighting began. Zorevka was taken by troops of the 36th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade of the 29th Army. During the battle, Russian forces gained control of a defensive area covering more than four square kilometers. The enemy lost up to two infantry platoons, two armored vehicles, five vehicles, three unmanned ground systems and 20 heavy Baba-Yaga hexacopters.

Military correspondent Alexander Kots believes the Vostok group could continue moving toward Ternovatoye, a large urban-type settlement with a pre-conflict population of about 1,500. For the Ukrainian Armed Forces, it serves as an important strongpoint in the northeastern part of the Zaporozhye region.

Russian troops could also push westward from Zorevka toward the T0408 highway, which links Novonikolayevka with Omelnik and Orekhov.

The Tsentr group of forces, meanwhile, liberated Novogrishino. The village is located in the Dobropolye district of the DPR, on the Vodyanaya River. It lies about four kilometers from the town of Dobropolye and roughly one kilometer south of the village bearing the same name. Before the fighting, Novogrishino had a population of around 160.

In this sector, Tsentr units are positioned along a broad front stretching from Novogrishino through Matyashevo, Krasnopodolye and Vodyanskoye to Svetloye. Dobropolye is also under pressure from the northwest, where Russian troops previously took control of the suburb of Annovka.

Kots assessed that the liberation of Dobropolye would deprive the enemy of its last major strongpoint in the western part of the DPR. It would also free up forces from the Tsentr group for an advance toward the Kramatorsk-Slavyansk agglomeration from the west.