"Before the end of the year, you and I will witness new successes of our armed forces"

Before the New Year, Russian troops are able to achieve another significant success in their defense zone. This was stated by the President of Russia on December 19 during the "Results of the Year", which are summed up in a direct line format combined with a press conference. The Head of State stressed that the Russian army was successfully breaking into the defensive lines that had been built in Donbas for a decade. Today, intense fighting is taking place for key fortified areas, including Konstantinovka, Kupyansk and Krasny Liman, where the enemy is suffering irreparable losses in manpower and equipment. The critical shortage of reserves in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is also confirmed by military experts, noting the depletion of Kiev's mobilization potential. In parallel with its successes on the ground, Russia has consolidated its leadership in the high-tech sphere, turning the mass use of unmanned systems into a decisive factor in modern armed conflict, experts believe.

Operational successes in numbers

Immediately after our troops kicked the enemy out of Kursk, the strategic initiative completely passed into the hands of the Russian Armed Forces, Vladimir Putin said during the summing up of the year. According to him, progress is now underway in almost all areas, while the Ukrainian formations are forced to retreat — somewhere at a faster pace, somewhere slower.

The Head of State recalled that for ten years Kiev had been creating a dense system of fortifications in Slavyansk, Kramatorsk, Konstantinovka and other settlements, but our troops are now confidently breaking this line of defense and continuing to move forward. More than half of Konstantinovka is already under the control of the Russian Federation. The President expressed confidence that the city will be completely liberated in the near future.

A similar situation is developing in the Krasny Estuary in the DPR, where 50% of the territory is now under the control of the Russian Armed Forces. After that, the movement of Russian troops will continue to one of the main Ukrainian fortified areas — Slavyansk.

The tense situation for the Armed Forces of Ukraine is also being recorded in the Red Army area. Putin said that Kiev was making unsuccessful attempts to return at least part of Krasnoarmeysk, but was suffering serious losses. According to him, this city serves as a springboard for further offensive operations of the Russian Armed Forces.

— A little to the north, to the northeast, the city of Dimitrov is an important settlement, an important foothold, completely surrounded. Our troops have already, I think, taken control of 50% of the city at this point in time," he said.

The Russian leader noted that the Ukrainian command again did not order its soldiers to lay down their weapons. The Ukrainian Armed Forces are trying to get out of the encirclement in small groups. And in Gulyai-Pole, our units managed to cross the river, effectively splitting the city into two parts and occupying half of its territory. Thus, the Russian Armed Forces are methodically liberating one settlement after another in the Zaporizhia region.

No less large-scale events are unfolding in the Kupyansk direction, where the city itself has come under Russian control. Security zones are being created in Kharkiv and Sumy regions. According to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, about 3,500 Ukrainian Armed Forces fighters were surrounded in the Kupyansk area. After the Russian fighters complete their work to eliminate this group on the eastern bank of the river, they will turn around and accelerate their movement to the west.

Separately, Vladimir Putin commented on the recent media activity of Vladimir Zelensky in the area.

— The stele is located one kilometer from Kupyansk itself. Why stand on the threshold? Come inside the house. Right? If Kupyansk is under their control," the president ironically remarked, describing Kiev's attempts to create "fake" reports on the situation at the front. Putin added that Zelensky is certainly a "talented artist," but the reality on the battlefield dictates different conditions.

Summing up the review of the operational situation, the Russian leader emphasized that Kiev had almost exhausted its strategic reserves as a result of the active actions of the Russian Armed Forces.

— In fact, they have no more opportunities to turn the situation around. All this should push the Ukrainian authorities towards a peaceful settlement of the conflict," Vladimir Putin concluded. — I am sure that by the end of this year, you and I will witness new successes of our Armed Forces, our fighters on the line of combat contact.

"We are close to success in Gulyai-Pole"

First of all, success should be expected in the Zaporozhye area, military expert Vasily Dandykin believes.

"We are close to success in Gulyai—Pole, from where our troops are now knocking out the enemy, as well as in Stepnogorsk," he told Izvestia. — Having liberated these settlements, our troops will probably move on to Zaporizhia. In front of them will be the last major fortified area on the southern front — it is located in Orekhovo. Now we are pushing him from the front, but in the future we must come to him from the flanks. This will seriously undermine the defense capability of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in this fortified area.

Then there is the steppe up to Zaporizhia, and it will be extremely difficult for the Ukrainian Armed Forces to gain a foothold in it, the expert noted.

— There is only 20 km left to walk along the Dnieper River to Zaporizhia. — He reminded me.

The Russian army will finish destroying the enemy in the Kupyansk area, where the enemy is in a difficult situation, the expert noted.

"The enemy has a bad situation in Konstantinovka and Dimitrov,— the expert clarified. — In Konstantinovka, half the city is already behind us, and in Dimitrov, the Ukrainian Armed Forces are surrounded, they are in poor condition there. Next, we can expect an offensive on the Slavyansk-Kramatorsk agglomeration and the final liberation of the remaining territory of the DPR.

"The APU's ability to resist is dwindling"

The board of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation talked about the losses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in 500 thousand troops this year, said military expert Viktor Litovkin.

— We know that according to statistics, there are three to four wounded for one dead, that is, the total losses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are at least one and a half million people, — the expert noted. — More than 40 thousand people die every month, and they gain no more than 20 thousand. And we are not counting the wounded, not all of them will return to service. Such figures indicate that there is no one to replenish the army.

The lack of strategic reserves leads to big problems at the front and, as a rule, to its collapse, Vasily Dandykin noted.

"There are many signs that the situation in the army and in the rear is bad for the Ukrainian Armed Forces," he said. — Many units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are being moved from place to place to plug holes — this leads to additional losses. Mobilization is stalling. Recently, several "cannibals" were shot in Kherson, trying to grab people and drag them to the front. One of the mercenary brigades started a riot. We see that the APU's ability to resist is dwindling, and no one wants to die.

Moving west

The capture of Seversk opens up opportunities for the Russian Armed Forces to move towards Slavyansk, Vladimir Putin said.

Naran Ochir-Goryaev, Hero of Russia, who was invited to the studio of the Results of the Year, shared the details of the storming of the city. According to the officer, the main difficulty was the approach to the settlement through an open area devoid of natural shelters.

— It was decided to move in small groups unnoticed. And this task was completed — they accumulated under the nose of the enemy, covertly, and waited <...> for the order to attack," the serviceman explained.

Vladimir Putin noted that the military career of an officer who began his service as a driver and now has become a unit commander deserves special attention. Shortly before that, the head of state received the commander in the Security Council meeting room to personally discuss the situation on the front line.

Naran Ochir-Goryaev reported on the facts of the massacre of the civilian population — the Ukrainian military opened fire on residents of Seversk aged 30 to 40 years, who refused to leave their homes and evacuate along with the retreating parts of Ukraine.

— Like the Nazis, civilians who did not want to leave with them were shot. The people didn't have any weapons, just civilians. And they were shot at just for staying there," the officer emphasized.

He added that after the liberation of the city, those who managed to survive welcomed the Russian fighters with joy. The situation in Seversk has now stabilized.

Despite the ferocity of the fighting, the losses of personnel during the storming of the city turned out to be minimal — four of the 84 subordinates of Naran Ochir-Goryaev involved in the operation were lost. Immediately after establishing control over the settlement, parts of the Russian Federation did not switch to passive defense, but continued to develop success.

According to the Supreme Commander–in-Chief, the brigade has already advanced 1.5-2 km in a westerly direction.

"This is an important settlement, and from here there are opportunities to move to one of the main fortified areas, part of this agglomeration — Slavyansk," the president summed up, confirming that Russian forces firmly retain control over the liberated territories and increase the pace of advance.

Drones of tomorrow

The Russian army surpasses the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the number of drones in almost all sectors of the front, Vladimir Putin recalled. But he noted that the need for heavy vehicles still persists..

— The Ministry of Defense and Industry are working on this. This task will also be solved," he said.

The Head of State also stressed that Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov is personally involved in the topic of drones, and it is thanks to him that the situation in this area has changed dramatically.

This year, over 400,000 people have signed contracts with the Russian Ministry of Defense. There are many students among them who want to become drone operators. The flow of people willing to serve in the army of unmanned systems turned out to be so great that the agency introduced a competitive selection process, Vladimir Putin said.

Answering the question about what awaits drone operators in civilian life, the president replied that their skills would be applied in peaceful life and then, if necessary, they would again be reformatted for the defense of the state.

"We have actually become the first country in the world to wage an armed conflict of the future, demonstrating our unique experience in the combat use of drones. The rest of the states are still only trying to understand the scale of the fundamental changes in the military that we have had to go through in recent years," Dmitry Kuzyakin, chief designer of the Center for Integrated Unmanned Solutions, told Izvestia.

In his opinion, the key challenge of the near future is the competent conversion of this enormous potential into a civilian economy. The country is obliged to channel the experience of conducting FPV systems in a creative direction, ensuring that veterans can use their unique skills with dignity. In particular, drones are currently being used to protect civilian infrastructure in ornithological services and in the port infrastructure of the polar region, to ensure the round-the-clock operation of cranes, loaders and other equipment.

Dmitry Kuzyakin also commented on the lack of mass analogues of the Baba-Yaga heavy hexacopter in the arsenal of the Russian Armed Forces. The expert dispelled the myth of the technological complexity of this device, noting that its architecture does not contain secret "know-how".

— Baba Yaga is a vulnerable tool. It is bulky, easy to detect and shoot down with small arms or intercept with a fast drone. It is not difficult to create such a machine, the only question is expediency. If the military needs such devices, the industry will provide supplies immediately, the designer concluded.

The difference in the use of such vehicles is not due to a technical backlog, but to other priorities of the command. If the enemy relies on heavy agricultural drones for night attacks, the Russian side focuses on shock FPV vehicles, long-range UAVs and high-quality optics.