One Pincer Stalled a Year Ago, the Other Has Just Been Broken Near Kostiantynivka—Russia’s Ring Will Not Close, Ukrainian Commander Says
Ukraine says its forces have disrupted Russian supply lines and cleared 75 square kilometers, forcing Moscow toward costly frontal assaults.
- Brigadier General Andrii Biletskyi, commander of Ukraine's Third Army Corps, announced that Russia's northern pincer aimed at encircling Donetsk Oblast's fortress cities has been destroyed, disrupting Moscow's long-standing encirclement strategy.
- Russian forces sought to encircle Sloviansk, Kramatorsk, Druzhkivka, and Kostiantynivka by meeting northern and southern prongs near Barvinkove; Putin ordered the seizure of all Donetsk Oblast by the end of 2026.
- On September 15, Biletskyi confirmed his corps cleared 75 square kilometers of Russian infiltrators and liberated 10 more, while drone units cut Russian supply routes and destroyed fuel infrastructure.
- Russia now faces costly frontal assaults on the Sloviansk-Kramatorsk and Druzhkivka-Kostiantynivka conurbations, forcing Ukraine to prioritize "paralyzing logistics, paralyzing the rear areas" to prevent renewed offensives.
- The Armed Forces of Ukraine emphasize defense on the Donetsk and Luhansk axes as their main strategic task, even as Russia may mobilize up to 600,000 troops for future offensives.
14 Articles
14 Articles
After denying in video the capture of Sviatohirsk claimed by Vladimir Putin, General Biletski now claims that the entire Russian "northern tenaille" collapses.
Ukrainian forces have virtually defeated a Russian offensive aimed at encircling fortified towns in the Donetsk region from the north, Brigadier General Andriy Biletsky, commander of the 3rd Army Corps, told Ukrainian television. A second Russian offensive was to bypass these towns from the south, which would have trapped them “in a pinch,” the Ukrainian commander said.
Brigadier General Andriy Biletsky, commander of the Third Army Corps “Azov” of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), said that the “northern pincers” of Russian forces in Donbas have been practically broken. According to him, the maneuver was aimed at capturing Ukrainian “fortress cities” in the Donetsk region, reports “Ukrainskaya Pravda”, quoted by News.bg. “The Russians had a plan for the Donetsk direction: to capture the so-called fortress citi…
Russia’s ’northern claw’ in Donetsk region has been crushed,
Biletsky stated that Ukrainian forces had thwarted the Russian Federation’s plan to encircle towns in the Donetsk region from the north. He urged that the enemy be prevented from resuming its offensive. 17 september 2026
Russia's offensive in the Donetsk region failed in the northern flank, said Andrei Bilecki, explaining how the U.S.U. had disrupted part of the plan for key cities in the region.
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