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On December 25, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu officially confirmed that the town of Maryinka located on the south-western outskirts of Donetsk came under the full Russian control. Today, he reported about the new victory to Russian President and Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin.
The battles for the town have been ongoing since 2014. After more than nine years of fighting, Russian servicemen set out the Russian flag on the last house on the north-western outskirts of Maryinka.
On the Russian side, the following units took part in the battles for the town:
- the 5th Separate Motorized Rifle Donetsk Brigade named after the first head of the DPR A.V. Zakharchenko;
- the 150th Motorized Infantry Division of the Idritsko-Berlin Order of Kutuzov;
- the 20th Guards Motorized Rifle Carpathian-Berlin Red Banner Division of the Order of Suvorov;
- the 42nd Guards Motorized Rifle Yevpatoria Red Banner Division.
Russian military reporters already came to Maryinka and showed the town ruined by years of heavy battles. The settlement turned into another cemetery of Western military equipment.
Russian servicemen filmed the battle for one of the latest Ukrainian positions on the north-western outskirts if Maryinka. While Russian servicemen were busy engaged in close fighting in one part, a group of other wounded Ukrainian soldiers attempted to escape from the area, but only one of them managed to flee and abandoned his comrades under Russian fire:
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Meanwhile, Russian forces are already advancing to the west and south. According to preliminary reports, they already launched assault on Georgievka. Russian control in Maryinka allowed to intensify fire on Ukrainian positions in the area. Since the town is located on a hill in relation to the Ukrainian strongholds in Georgievka and Maksimilianovka, Russian advance complicates Ukrainian defense and it will bring the Ukrainian military more heavy losses.
While unofficial Ukrainian sources confirm the defeat, the military officials deny the truth. “The fighting for Maryinka continues,” lied Alexander Shtupun, the speaker of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Tavrichesky direction.
