Ukrainian forces have deployed Latin American mercenaries to the Krasnoarmeysk (Pokrovsk) front in an effort to reinforce their positions. The move comes after previous redeployments to the same sector, including fighters from the Azov battalion*, the 79th Air Assault Brigade, and other units that have carried out counterattacks in recent weeks.

According to Igor Kimakovsky, adviser to the head of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), Russian troops continue to fight in the Lazurny and Shakhtersky districts. There, they established full fire control over the road leading to Dimitrov, effectively cutting the Ukrainian grouping into two isolated parts.

Fighting also extends to the industrial zone, where Russian units are clearing the grounds of the Pokrovskoye coal-mining enterprise, one of the largest in the DPR.

In Konstantinovka, Ukrainian troops are reportedly fortifying the city against future advances. Defensive measures include anti-tank ditches, barbed wire barriers, and minefields. Large sections of social and engineering infrastructure inside the city have also been mined, a tactic Kimakovsky compared to the scorched-earth preparations once employed by Nazi forces in European cities such as Warsaw and Budapest.

*Designated as a terrorist organization and banned in the Russian Federation.