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The Fortress Belt
Russia’s commanders claim the Fortress Belt’s southern cities; the evidence does not show them taken.
On October 16 Russia’s chief of general staff, Valery Gerasimov, told Putin his forces had captured Dobropillya, Kostiantynivka and Oleksiievo-Druzhkivka, entered Druzhkivka and reached the outskirts of Kramatorsk. ISW calls the claims false. It sees only limited infiltration in Dobropillya and puts Russian troops, infiltrators included, at least 9 kilometres from Kramatorsk and 12 from Druzhkivka. Ukraine’s General Staff and the Azov corps say Dobropillya and the villages around it remain Ukrainian, and a Russian military blogger conceded that no advance into the town’s centre is confirmed. DeepState does show a small Russian advance near Svitle, beside it.
Kostiantynivka is where the fighting is real. Russian troops have infiltrated much of its south and centre without consolidating them, and are now working north of the city around Novodmytrivka and Molocharka, on an observer’s account ISW accepts. Ukrainian troops still hold positions inside it.
In the north, the Russian salient at Lyman stays collapsed after Operation Vivaldi, and ISW assesses that Ukrainian forces held or advanced east of Slovyansk and Kramatorsk.
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