Russian Chief of Staff: Russian Army's Operations in Donetsk Region Have Been Successful

On August 27, Xinhua News Agency reported from Moscow (Reporter Liu Kai) that the Russian Ministry of Defense announced on social media that the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, Valery Gerasimov, inspected the progress of combat missions of the Southern Group of Forces. He stated that the Southern Group of Forces has achieved success in operations to control the Donetsk region, and the troops are breaking through enemy defenses, with the "offensive momentum being unstoppable."

Gerasimov said that the Russian military is launching attacks in all directions at a "speed that has not diminished in the slightest," with some assault units approaching the key towns of Sloviansk, Kramatorsk, and Druzhkivka in the Donbas.

Gerasimov noted that the main strategic goal of the Ukrainian army remains to maintain control over the remaining areas of the Donbas, as it builds and continuously improves deep defenses in the northern Donetsk region, primarily relying on high-rise buildings and industrial areas in the aforementioned three large towns to construct defensive lines.

Gerasimov stated that the Southern Group of Forces is advancing along a front line of approximately 160 kilometers in multiple directions, and has breached the first line of defense in the Sloviansk-Kramatorsk fortified area in some regions. Russian assault units are currently about 4 kilometers from the eastern outskirts of Sloviansk, with some advance units engaged in combat near an airport located 3 kilometers from the outskirts of Kramatorsk. In another major defensive direction of the Ukrainian forces, Russian frontline troops are only 1.5 kilometers from the city of Druzhkivka. In just the past two months, the Russian military has controlled over 100 square kilometers of land in the direction of Druzhkivka.