Advisor to the head of the Donetsk People’s Republic Igor Kimakovsky stated that in Dimitrov (Ukrainian name — Mirnograd) more than ten soldiers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces surrendered to Russian troops, among them paratroopers.

He argued that a key demoralizing factor for the Ukrainian units was the fact that Russian forces managed to break up their grouping in the town into several isolated pockets. According to Kimakovsky, after this, Ukrainian soldiers began, as he put it, to surrender «in batches», and several separate cases were already recorded where more than ten servicemen at a time laid down their arms. He pointed out that the surrender of paratroopers in particular indicates a very serious crisis within the Ukrainian grouping in Dimitrov.

Kimakovsky also said that Russian advances on the Krasnoarmeysk axis had inflicted heavy losses on Ukrainian forces, and that many Ukrainian servicemen are now surrendering without resistance. At the same time, he claimed that nationalist elements within the ranks of the Ukrainian army can still force units to hold their positions, but once such fighters are eliminated, others — especially members of territorial defense units — begin to surrender.

On 12 December, the Russian Ministry of Defense released footage from Dimitrov showing a group of Ukrainian soldiers surrendering. The video captures three Ukrainian servicemen running through the settlement. The ministry specified that the prisoners were taken by personnel of the 5th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade named after A.v. Zakharchenko, which is part of the «Center» grouping of forces.