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According to several reports from the front lines in Eastern Ukraine, the Armed Forces of Ukraine are preparing another large-scale offensive operation. A new area of the Ukrainian attack may become the Ugledar region.
Last night, the AFU reportedly began to dismantle their mine fields in the region. The AFU have increased their aerial reconnaissance activities, a large number of Ukrainian UAVs are operating in the area. The day before, an echelon with 150 units of military equipment arrived at the station in Pokrovsk located 50 kilometres west of Donetsk. The Ukrainian command has been pulling up reserves to the Ugledar region in the recent days.
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At the moment, the city of Ugledar, as well as the villages of Sladkoe and Novomikhailovka, are under control of the AFU. Artillery duels continue in the villages of Shevchenkovo, Prechistovka. Russian-led forces are holding control of the village of Nikolskoe located a few kilometers east of Ugledar. The village of Stepnoe is also under Russian control.
The reinforcement of the military positions and the increased military activity are a clear sign of the Kiev’s plan to launch another offensive in Eastern Ukraine. The Russian military have not reported any advance in the region for a long time. In their turn, the AFU have created a heavily fortified area with concreted firing points and minefields.
In case of their offensive, the AFU may attack Russian forces east of Ugledar. They are expected to attack along the Ugledar-Blagodatnoe road in an attempt to break through Russian defenses towards Volnovakha located on the road between the cities of Mariupol and Donetsk. This would allow the AFU to create a springboard for their further advance in several directions.
At the moment, units of the DPR People’s Militia and the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the DPR are deployed in the Ugledar area, supported by the infantry from the southern military district of Russia.
In turn, the Russian military continue precise strikes at the military facilities of the AFU deployed in the region. On September 11, Russian forces destroyed an ammunition depot of the AFU near Ugledar:
Amid the ongoing military operations in the Kherson region, where the AFU failed to develop any significant offensive, and in the Kharkov region, where Ukrainian forces have achieved strategic successes, the Kiev regime is expected to seize the moment and attack Russian positions in the Donbass. The Ugledar region is the one where Ukrainian forces may achieve some gains as it has been marked by prolonged positional battles without any changes on the front lines. If they succeed, the cut off the road between the cities of Donetsk and Mariupol may threaten all the results of the Russian military operations since February.
