Spox Voloshyn: Huliaypole under control of Defense Forces
The situation in the south remains difficult, with 56 combat clashes recorded in the past 24 hours. At the same time, Huliaypole remains under the control of the Defense Forces, with the enemy being destroyed on the outskirts of the city.
This was reported by Vladyslav Voloshyn, spokesman for the Southern Defense Forces, in a comment to Ukrinform.
"The situation is quite difficult, and the enemy is not reducing its fire activity. In addition, it is constantly maintaining a high number of assault operations. Over the past day, 56 combat clashes have been recorded. In particular, in the Kherson and Dnipro directions, the enemy attempted to storm the Antonivsky automobile bridge and land on the island of Bilohrudy, but without success," Voloshyn said.
In addition, in the Orikhiv direction, Russian troops carried out nine assaults over the past day, attempting to attack near the settlements of Kamianske, Stepove, Mala Tokmachka, Novoandriivka, and Prydniprovske.
The spokesman noted that the enemy had resumed its activity here, as just a few days ago, the number of assaults was at the level of 2-3 per day. Now, the Russian occupiers have regrouped their forces and resources, brought the personnel of assault groups to the front lines, and, in fact, the number of enemy assaults has increased across the entire front line in the Orikhiv direction.
As for the Huliaypole direction, according to Voloshyn, it is one of the most dangerous and active sections of the front.
"The enemy is trying to enter Huliaypole. First, it is trying to encircle the city of Huliaypole from the east and north. In addition, it is trying to cut off the logistics routes leading to Huliaypole, in particular those from the north. That route, from Pokrovsk, Dnipropetrovsk region, to Huliaypole, is one of the main logistics routes," the spokesman said, adding that the enemy near the village of Varvarivka is trying to get closer and cut off this logistics route, which will significantly complicate the logistics situation in the city.
At the same time, he stressed that the Ukrainian Defense Forces are well aware of this, so they are destroying the enemy as it approaches the village of Varvarivka.
Voloshyn also reported that the enemy is actively using aviation and striking with guided aerial bombs: “In particular, yesterday it bombed Huliaypole quite intensively, with more than 25 guided aerial bombs recorded hitting the city.”
The spokesman stressed that the enemy is unable to enter the suburbs, although it is using small infantry groups and infiltration tactics.
“There is no enemy in Huliaypole now; it is being destroyed on the approaches to this settlement,” the spokesman said, calling for no false information to be spread about this section of the front.
“The enemy tried to enter there, to bring in several of its assault groups, but we destroyed them there, and all their attempts were unsuccessful. That is, there is no enemy in Huliaypole, I repeat,” Voloshyn emphasized.
The spokesman also reported on the situation in the Oleksandrivka direction, which remains quite difficult: "Over the past day, 23 combat clashes have been recorded here. In general, over the past day, we have had 56 combat clashes in the south, 31 of them in the Orikhiv and Huliaypole directions, and 23 combat clashes in the Oleksandrivka direction, where the enemy is also trying to intensify its activities along the entire line of combat contact, in particular near the settlements of Rybne, Verbove, Krasnohirsk, Yegorivka, Oleksiivka, and Vorone."
According to Voloshyn, over the past day, the Defense Forces destroyed 355 occupiers and nearly 70 pieces of weaponry and military equipment in the south.
“Every day we record 300-350 enemy casualties,” the spokesman said.
He noted that the Defense Forces conduct search and strike operations every day to detect and destroy enemy groups. Thanks to this, the enemy cannot enter, gain a foothold, or advance deep into Ukrainian defenses.
Unfortunately, the spokesman noted, weather conditions favor the enemy's infiltration tactics, but at the moment, the enemy is using fewer unmanned aerial vehicles.
"Over the past day, we have recorded a little over a thousand, well, about 1,300 UAVs. However, when the weather is more favorable and there is less fog, we have recorded 1,500 and sometimes even up to 2,000 strikes by kamikaze drones," Voloshyn said.
In addition, the intensity of artillery shelling remains quite high. In particular, 300-350 artillery strikes using 1,500 rounds of ammunition have been recorded.
Every day, the enemy carries out 30-35 attacks on populated areas: Kherson, Nikopol, Marhanets, communities located on the right bank of the Dnipro, as well as populated areas in the Orikhiv direction.
The spokesman also said that the enemy uses light motor vehicles, buggies, motorcycles, and ATVs during assaults, and sometimes uses robotic ground systems.
"Every day we destroy more than two dozen motorcycles, up to a dozen buggies, and ATVs. That is, the enemy uses such equipment. Although there are cases when assault groups also have armored vehicles, there are only a few of them, usually 2-3 armored vehicles, sometimes tanks, which we try to destroy. We actually destroy several armored vehicles every day. This means that the enemy's advance into our defenses is blocked, and we are now inflicting fire damage on the enemy at the positions where we stopped them," Voloshyn said.
He noted that the situation is quite difficult and tends to escalate, because according to Ukrainian intelligence, the enemy is currently regrouping its forces and resources in several directions, replenishing its losses, and is likely to become more active in the near future.
As reported by Ukrinform, 234 combat clashes between the Ukrainian Defense Forces and Russian invaders were recorded on the front line over the past day, December 10. In the hottest Pokrovsk direction, Ukrainian defenders stopped 49 Russian assaults.