On December 11, President Vladimir Putin honored the Russian army after commanders reported that Russian forces had taken full control of the town of Seversk in eastern Ukraine.
Commanders said that controlling Seversk would be a stepping stone to Sloviansk - one of the two largest key cities in Donetsk still under Ukrainian control. Before the conflict, Seversk had a population of about 10,000.
On the Russian side, Ukraine defend Seversk with many lines and equipment, but this defense system was disrupted after supply lines were cut off, combined with peripheral attacks and key attacks.
The enemy expects us to be muddy when building a defense zone in Seversk and in the city itself, thereby slowing down our progress, Putin told the commanders, stressing: The enemy has failed. You have achieved all the set goals. Congratulations".
However, the Ukrainian military's Eastern combat force affirmed: "In the direction of Sloviansk, Seversk city is still under the control of the Ukrainian Armed Forces".
Ukraine said it was trying to penetrate Seversk in small groups, taking advantage of bad weather, but most of these groups were neutralized from the outside.
The report also said that the Ukrainian army still holds the northern districts of Pokrovsk - a former important logistics hub in the southwest, which Russian commanders said they had taken control of since last month.
On December 10, according to the Ukrainian army, they repelled an unusually large Russian mechanical attack in the inner city of Pokrovsk.
