russian army plans to reach Donetsk region’s administrative border before end of year – defense ministry

russian invaders want to enter the administrative border of the Donetsk region by the end of this year.

Rubryka reports, referring to the statement of Ukraine's Deputy Minister of Defense Hanna Maliar in an interview with the telethon.

"They (russians – ed.) have set themselves the task of reaching the (administrative – ed.) borders of Donetsk region by the end of the calendar year," said the deputy minister.

Maliar said that the city of Bakhmut is "our eastern fortress." It was there that the enemy concentrated the most military equipment and weapons.

"There (in the area of Bakhmut – ed.) there was a slight advance, but the enemy was pushed out. As of today, the enemy is trying to surround the city, but they are also not succeeding," the deputy minister of defense emphasized.

Earlier, the speaker of the Eastern grouping of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Serhii Cherevaty, said on the air of the telethon that by continuing to defend Bakhmut in the Donetsk region, the Ukrainian military is achieving several important goals. The main thing is to prevent the russians from entering the operational space.

He said that now near Bakhmut, russian invaders are trying to break through the defense of Ukrainian defenders in the area of the city itself and near Klishchiivka and Soledar.

He also emphasized that the enemy had directed a significant amount of their equipment and manpower in this direction.

"His main task is to break through the system of our defense, to find weak points. To enter the operational space and try to continue to go to Sloviansk, Kramatorsk, to seize our Ukrainian Donbas," Cherevatyi said.

The speaker emphasized that Ukrainian defenders have been preventing the enemy from achieving his goals for many months in a row with daily heroism, coordination, and courage.

Earlier, it became known that on Tuesday, December 14, the Ukrainian military managed to push the russian army out of two-quarters of Bakhmut.