Russia liberates another Donbass settlement – MOD

The Russian military has seized control of the village of Novaya Ilyinka, representing an important advance in southwest Donbass

The Russian Defense Ministry has announced the liberation of the village of Novaya Ilyinka in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR).

The small village lies directly to the north of the key town of Kurakhovo, across the eponymous reservoir.

Over the past few weeks, the town had been among the main targets of the ongoing Russian offensive in the southwest of the DPR, with Moscow’s forces advancing on it from the eastern, southern and northern directions.

Kurakhovo has been heavily fortified by the Ukrainian forces, and is one of the few major locations under Kiev’s control in the southwest of Donbass. The largest settlement in the area, controlled by Ukrainian troops, is the city of Pokrovsk (also known as Krasnoarmeysk), located some 30km to the north of Kurakhovo.

Novaya Ilyinka is located at the entrance of a major road bridge, running across the Kurakhovo reservoir. The 900-meter-long bridge has effectively been the last route connecting Ukrainian troops operating on the northern and southern banks of the reservoir.

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The latest development is set to further disrupt logistics for the Ukrainian forces in the area. Earlier this month, a dam and the road bridge located at the outflow of the Kurakhovo reservoir in the west were damaged in a powerful blast.

It was not immediately clear who exactly was behind the explosion that caused a partial rupture of the dam and minor flooding, but footage circulating online suggests the bridge was blown up by the Ukrainian military rather than hit by a Russian strike of any sort. Unverified drone videos from the scene show the dam rocked by a major blast, with explosives apparently located under the bridge. No incoming projectiles can be seen.