Colonel Serhii Shatalov, commander of the thirty seventh Separate Marine Brigade, has said that there was no "Uspenivka pocket" as reported by navy analysts in December 2024.

Supply: Shatalov in an interview with hromadske

Quote: "I imagine there was no ‘Uspenivka pocket’; it existed solely within the minds of journalists and, I’d say, incompetent navy observers. When the Russians superior, there have been solely a minimal variety of troops there, and people who died didn’t achieve this in encirclement however moderately in direct fight with the enemy. This occurred as a result of the withdrawal of our forces to a protected place was rigorously deliberate."

Particulars: He acknowledged that the troops had sustained losses.

Quote: "Sure, in fact, we suffered casualties, but when we maintain retreating, we'll find yourself in Kyiv, standing on Bankova Road [a street in Kyiv where a lot of the government buildings are located – ed.], defending ourselves there."

Background:

• On 12 December 2024, analysts from the DeepState undertaking reported a deteriorating state of affairs across the settlements of Yelyzavetivka, Romanivka, Veselyi Hai, and Hanniivka, which had discovered themselves trapped contained in the "Uspenivka pocket". It was famous that the Russians have been making an attempt to interrupt by means of the defences from all fronts to completely encircle Ukrainian forces.
• Later, DeepState reported that Russian forces had captured Trudove and Uspenivka, finishing the occupation of the ultimate a part of the "Uspenivka pocket". It was additionally mentioned that not all Ukrainian troops managed to flee the encirclement.

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