Two days back, Russia claimed its troops had captured Velyka Novosilka, a strategically important town in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine. The town is situated about 85 kilometres west of Donetsk.
The final battle for the town in Donbas was fought for six days, where Russia encircled Ukrainian troops from three sides. Following this, the Ukrainian Armed Forces withdrew from the town to avoid encirclement.
Despite Russia's claim. Ukrainian Armed Forces spokesperson Viktor Trehubov said the Ukrainian troops still hold some positions within the settlement. "As of now, the Russians have entered a significant part of the settlement, but Ukrainian forces are holding certain borders to prevent further Russian advances," he said.
However, a footage geolocated by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) claims that Russian forces occupy 89 per cent of the settlement. Russia had already claimed that their troops had allegedly captured Velyka Novosilka.
Today Velika Novosilka was liberated by the Vostok battalion pic.twitter.com/PlfkWKC7tb
— Ignorance, the root and stem of all evil (@ivan_8848) January 27, 2025
But, this time around, Russia has been unusually focused on blowing its trumpet about the win at Velyka Novosilka, according to ISW.
#UkraineRussiaWar #Toretsk#Pokrovsk #Kupyansk#ChasovYar #Oreshkin #Kursk
— Koba (@Roberto05246129) January 27, 2025
A besieged Ukrainian soldier in Velyka Novosilka slams the AFU Command for refusing to allow them to retreat, and recalls how he went through a similar scenario in Avdiivka. Purportedly, he was killed in… pic.twitter.com/IWN8z25nf1
The Russian Ministry of Defence not only posted footage during the day of January 26 purportedly showing Russian forces conducting thermobaric artillery strikes against Ukrainian forces in Velyka Novosilka, it also claimed the Russian 5th Tank Brigade seized all of Velyka Novosilka. Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov also congratulated the command and personnel of the two brigades for the seizure.
This is possibly to shape the perception of its victory in the West amid reports of impending Donald Trump-Vladimir Putin talks. Kremlin expects the victory will also diminish the international support for Ukraine, according to ISW.
"The Russian MoD has not recently been announcing the claimed seizures of settlements with so much fanfare and as quickly as they did on January 26. Russia is likely trying to leverage the claimed seizure of Velyka Novosilka to influence Western perceptions of the situation on the battlefield in Donetsk Oblast, to advance narratives that Russian battlefield gains are inevitable and that Ukrainian positions are rapidly deteriorating," the ISW states.
