Situation at the front. Russia claims the capture of Dobropillya
Who is actually controlling the city, and what is the situation on other sectors of the front?
Situation at the front. Russia claims to have captured Dobropillia
During a report to President Vladimir Putin on October 16, Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Valeriy Gerasimov once again spoke about significant "successes" of the Russian army at the front, in particular, about the capture of Dobropillia and the rapid advance of Russian troops. However, as with previous statements regarding the capture of Kupiansk or Sviatohirsk, Russia's report this time is also far from reality.
According to Gerasimov, since September 1, the Russian army has occupied 1.8 thousand sq km of Ukrainian territory and 92 settlements. Among such territories, important strongholds of the Ukrainian armed forces such as Dobropillia (Donetsk region) and Velykomykhailivka (Dnipropetrovsk region) were listed.
In the Zaporizhzhia region, it was reported that the Russian military took the village of Malokaterynivka and approached within 5 km of the regional center. In the Sumy region, as the Russian General Staff emphasized, a group of Ukrainian troops was routed near the village of Sadky, while in the north-east of the Kharkiv region, a "cauldron" containing 2 thousand fighters of the Ukrainian armed forces was destroyed.
The Russian government did not provide photo or video recordings confirming the statements about successes at the front.
In turn, Ukraine not only denied reports of a significant advance by enemy troops, but emphasized that the situation on the battlefield is quite the opposite.
"The trend of this year continues: since the beginning of autumn, our military has liberated more territory than the Russians managed to occupy. This was also the case in other periods of the year," President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on October 18.
The city of Dobropillia, considered the last and relatively well-defended settlement in the west of the Donetsk region, became the main target of the Russian army in the spring of 2026 after the fall of the surrounding cities of Pokrovsk and Myrnohrad.
Having concentrated a grouping of nearly 100,000 people on this section of the front, the Russian army is advancing in the north and south to encircle the city.