Russian troops that pushed through near Dobropillya in August are now encircled and will be destroyed or taken prisoner, according to Viktor Tregubov, a representative of Ukraine’s Operational-Strategic Group of Troops “Dnipro.” According to him, the encicled units will not be able to maintain combat capability through drone “drops.”
At the start of August, Russian forces “got overconfident” around Dobropillya and made a rapid thrust forward, Tregubov said on Suspilne.
“They first infiltrated a large number of small groups through the first line, then combined those groups and tried to conduct aggressive actions toward Dobropillya. They stretched themselves - stretched into a long ‘gut.’ Then they hit a wall; they couldn’t widen the ‘neck of that gut.’ And now that ‘gut’ is being cut into separate fragments,” he said.
According to Tregubov, Russian manpower and equipment were drawn into this “gut.” Those forces, he said, will either be eliminated or captured.
“At the very least, that’s what we’re hoping for. The relevant operation is underway right now,” he added.
The Dnipro group’s representative said Russian troops caught in the encirclement will not be able to sustain themselves with supplies delivered by drones.
He also described the situation on the Pokrovsk axis as difficult. There, Russian forces are trying to push into the city and infiltrate it with small groups while expanding their presence around it, including to the west of Pokrovsk.
“This is, let’s say, an unpleasant trend for us, but everything is being done to destroy these groups and to contain any potential Russian advances,” Tregubov said.
Across the front, he added, Russia is sticking to the same approach - in small groups - while constantly launching drones and using aviation. Moscow tried to mass forces for a push toward Kostiantynivka and Druzhkivka but fell short of its own expectations, he said.
“Since things didn’t go very well for them toward Kramatorsk and didn’t go very well toward Toretsk, despite their own statements, they tried to build up power from the Pokrovsk direction,” the military spokesman noted.
He said Ukraine’s Defense Forces are working to prevent Russia from realizing its plan.
Earlier on September 29, Robert “Madjar” Brovdi, commander of Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces, said defenders used an FPV drone to down a Russian Mi-28 helicopter. The 59th Separate Assault Brigade “Steppe Predators” reported the successful “landing” occurred near the village of Kotliarivka in Donetsk region.
Later, troops released additional footage of the downing and clarified it was a Mi-8 attack helicopter, valued at up to $10 million.
