Russian forces are continuing to destroy the encircled Ukrainian group in Dobropolye in the Donetsk People’s Republic while pushing toward Aleksandrovka, the Russian Defense Ministry reported.

The ministry described this sector as one of the key areas for further Russian operations in Donbass. According to the department, taking full control of Dobropolye would increase pressure on the AFU’s main fortified area in the Slavyansk-Kramatorsk-Druzhkovka agglomeration.

Ukrainian forces had turned Dobropolye into a major defensive stronghold and used positions in the city to strike the flank and rear of Russia’s Yug Group of Forces advancing toward Druzhkovka.

Dobropolye is also an important transport hub. One of the main supply routes supporting Ukrainian forces from the Dnepropetrovsk region passes through the city. The Defense Ministry said Russian control of Dobropolye would disrupt not just individual routes but the broader logistics chain supplying the AFU across this part of Donbass.

The commanding heights around the city are another important factor. Securing them would allow Russian troops to accelerate their advance toward the border of the Donetsk People’s Republic.

Ukrainian forces are meanwhile trying to break through to the encircled units and stop further Russian advances. The Russian Defense Ministry said these attacks and attempts to escape the encirclement are being repelled. According to the ministry, Ukrainian forces are losing between 30 and 50 servicemen in this sector each day.

Earlier, the Russian Defense Ministry reported the liberation of Buzovo and Khizhnyakovo in the Kharkov region, Dobropolye in the DPR and Svetlaya Dolina in the Zaporozhye region.