Russia Is Preparing for Assault Operations in Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk Regions

The Russian military is preparing for assault operations in the Zaporizhzhia direction, aiming to completely occupy the Donetsk region, as well as the city of Zaporizhzhia. 

This was reported by Colonel Vladyslav Voloshyn, the spokesman of the Tavria operational-strategic group, in a commentary to Radio Svoboda.

"Today we see an attempt by the enemy [Russia] to concentrate forces and means for conducting assault operations. I emphasize not offensive, not offensive actions, but assault actions in certain directions. In particular, near Pryiutne and near Robotyne. Near Pryiutne, the purpose of these actions is to carry out an assault and advance in the direction of Velyka Novosilka, to take control of the Donetsk region itself and those territories that remained there, and to cut the logistical routes of the Ukrainian units defending both Vuhledar and then Kurakhove ", he said.

According to Voloshyn, the Russian forces are also forming similar units near Robotyne.

"In order to also carry out assault actions to capture our positions, which are currently located on the so-called Robotyne ledge. And move on to Orihiv," Voloshyn stated.

The spokesman of the 118th Separate Mechanized Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Dmytro Pelykh also commented on Russian forces gathering forces near Robotyne.

"We have certain information that they brought heavily armored vehicles to this direction, and also drove a large number of buggies or ‘golf carts’, non-Russian-made equipment. But there was no bigger amount of people noticed there. It is obvious that they are preparing. It looks like this Robotyne ledge is an eye-sore for them. And they would definitely like to cut it down as much as possible, or go further because they plan to seize Zaporizhzhia as well because although they annexed it to the Russian Federation, the city is still Ukrainian," says Pelykh.

On September 30, 2022, Russia announced the annexation of territories within four Ukrainian regions: Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia. This declaration followed internationally unrecognized referendums, and at the time of the announcement, and since, none of these regions were fully under Russian control.

On October 2, the Ukrainian Defense Forces confirmed their withdrawal from Vuhledar, a small mining city in the Donetsk region. Its defense has become a crucial part of Ukraine’s southern front in the Donetsk region, withstanding multiple assaults since 2022.