Military denies to rumors of AFU encirclement in Donetsk region

The Armed Forces of Ukraine commented on DeepState's information about the encirclement of the Defense Forces near the village of Makarivka, Donetsk region. The military stated that the situation in the Vremivskyi axis is difficult, but there is no encirclement.

This was reported by Vladyslav Voloshyn, a spokesman for the Southern Defense Forces, in a comment to Ukrinform on Monday, December 23.

Ukrainian soldiers are not surrounded

"The enemy has been conducting more than 40 assault actions in the Vremivskyi sector for several days in a row: 47 yesterday, and 44 today," said Voloshyn.

The spokesman added that Russian invaders are trying to bypass Novosilka from the eastern flank and even from the north. According to him, the Southern Defense Forces are aware of these intentions, are actively defending and conducting stabilization measures.

"Therefore, it is too early to talk about any encirclement," Voloshyn said.

He also added that the enemy is suffering heavy losses. Every day, Ukrainian defenders destroy about 200 invaders and dozens of enemy vehicles. According to Voloshyn, yesterday, December 22, eight tanks and up to a dozen armored vehicles were destroyed, and today — four tanks and up to five armored combat vehicles.

"Our defenders are destroying enemy forces that are trying to break into our defense, and where possible, are conducting active combat operations to restore their positions," the spokesman said.

Earlier, we reported that the Ukrainian Armed Forces were allegedly completely surrounded in the village of Makarivka in Donetsk region. According to DeepState, the cauldron around the Defense Forces is now completely closed.

Earlier, there was also information about the presence of certain units of the Defense Forces in an operational cordon near Uspenivka and Trudove. This turned out to be a fake, and Ukrainian soldiers left the settlements.