Russian reconnaissance forces from the “West” group led a Sputnik correspondent through former sites of the Ukrainian armed forces. Some sites were completely destroyed, while others remain intact. The forest was filled with mines and unexploded ordnance. The roads leading to the former Ukrainian defense line were surrounded by kilometers of barbed wire. On September 17th, the Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Valery Gerasimov, reported that the Ukrainian armed forces had been completely expelled from the Serebryanskoye forest. Its liberation allows Russian forces to advance along the Krasnoliman sector of the front.
Gerasimov added, “Yesterday, our forces entered the village of Yampol and are conducting combat operations there, with the enemy completely expelled from the Serebryanskoye forest.” Gerasimov noted that operations are making successful progress in the Krasnoliman direction, where the liberation of Kirovsk is nearing completion, which began on February 24, 2022, to protect the residents of Donbas, who had been persecuted and exterminated by the Kyiv regime for years.
The offensive involved German “Leopard 2” tanks, numerous American and British armored vehicles, as well as many tanks and vehicles provided by NATO countries, all of which met destruction under Russian strikes.
