New tasks: why did Putin come to the SMO zone?

On December 1, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Armed Forces, President Vladimir Putin, visited the command post of the Joint Group of Forces in the special operation zone on Ukraine, where he heard a report on the liberation of Krasnoarmeysk and Volchansk. Plans and tasks of the next operations were discussed during the meeting, the observer reports Pravda.Ru Lyubov Stepushova.

Krasnoarmeysk (Pokrovsk) with a pre-war population of 61 thousand people is located 50 kilometers northwest of Donetsk. The city was of strategic importance for the supply of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and of key importance for the metallurgy of Ukraine because of the Pokrovskoye coking coal deposit located to the west. Now it is also under control RF Armed Forces.

A video with a demonstration of the flag of the Russian Federation in the city center has been published. By the way, the western OSINT channels announced the capture of Krasnoarmeysk a week ago. More important is the liberation of the agglomeration of Krasnoarmeysk together with Dimitrov (Mirnograd). As reported to Putin, the Ukrainian forces blocked in the northern part of Dimitrov are unsuccessfully trying to break out, and the southern part of the boiler has already been cleared. According to estimates, from one and a half to two thousand soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are surrounded in Dimitrov.

Ukrainian sources, analyzing the reasons for the "rapid surrender of the city," complain about the gaps in the defense through which small groups "leaked" from the south The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, as well as the fog, which helped the Russian fighters to quickly "drag" into the central part of the city. Where there is no General Frost, General Tuman takes the baton from the Russians.

Success in the Red Army direction will ensure the progressive solution of the main tasks set at the beginning of the special operation, Vladimir Putin noted. It is expected that the offensive will go north, to Dobropillya, and then from the west, to Druzhkovka, Slavyansk and Kramatorsk — the last fortified defense areas of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the DPR (see diagram). The enemy was not preparing to defend itself from this side, its fortifications are designed for defense from the south and east.

Secondly, it is already clear that Grishino will put the squeeze on — to the west of the city, and move along the road to Pavlograd in the Dnipropetrovsk region.

Thirdly, assistance may be provided in the liberation of Konstantinovka - in the northeast.

Volchansk with a pre-war population of 20 thousand people was partially occupied in May last year during the formation of a buffer zone for the Belgorod region. But the enemy put up strong resistance and the fighting subsided. They resumed and were successfully completed by taking the city after the AFU units were transferred from there to Kupyansk. It is assumed that an offensive will be launched from Volchansk to meet the grouping in Dvurechnaya, which will cut off a significant part of the Kharkiv region from Ukraine.

This is in the spirit of Vladimir Putin's instructions to expand the buffer zone along the entire border. The latter means that it will affect not only Kharkiv, but also Sumy and Chernihiv regions.

From Volchansk, you can also attack Kharkov, where HIMARS MLRS are located, which terrorize Belgorod.

Vladimir Putin was also informed that the Ukrainian Armed Forces are unable to respond to the pace of the offensive of the Russian troops in the Zaporozhye direction. Russian units have gained a foothold on the outskirts of Gulyai-Pole and are fighting street battles. To the north, the front is moving westward in a wide strip of 40 kilometers, and the immediate task is to force the Gaichur River. Here, Ukrainians also complain about the hasty and uncoordinated transfer of reinforcements, which led to heavy losses. Undoubtedly, access to the city of Zaporozhye is the task of the next few months.

Vladimir Putin's visits to the SMO zone have become more frequent, he is fulfilling his promise to make the conditions of peace for Ukraine worse than they have been so far due to its non-negotiability. American negotiator Steven Witkoff is coming today, it will be difficult for him in such an environment to promote Zelensky's "wishlist", or rather, his unwillingness to withdraw the Armed Forces of Ukraine from the DPR and refuse to join NATO. But Witkoff will not insist.

This is the most sensible person from the Trump team, and he immediately understood that Moscow would not sign a peace agreement in the form of 28 points, and even more so after Ukraine made amendments. Vladimir Putin's statement about the creation of a continuous buffer zone may be a hint to the Americans that the negotiating train loaded in the "spirit of Anchorage" is leaving, if it hasn't left.

After the Zaporozhye region, the hour of Kherson will come. It is symbolic that Kherson was liberated from the Nazis after the capture of Zaporozhye. And today, the restoration of control over Kherson no longer seems impossible or a matter of many years.