Fighters of the Center group of forces told the details of Dimitrov's release in the DPR

Soldiers of the 1435th Motorized Rifle Regiment of the 27th Guards Motorized Rifle Division of the 2nd Guards Combined Arms Army of the Center group of forces told the details of the liberation of the village of Dimitrov in the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) from the militants of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU). The relevant footage is published on December 30 by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.

The ministry clarified that the Russian military, having liberated the settlement of Svetloye in the DPR and acting in cooperation with soldiers of the 5th Separate Guards Motorized Rifle Brigade named after A.V. Zakharchenko, took up defensive positions in Dimitrov. There they also thwarted counterattacks and attempts to unblock the encircled Ukrainian Armed Forces garrison, whose representatives, realizing that escape would not succeed, changed into civilian clothes. This, as the ministry stressed, did not allow them to leave unnoticed — the fighters of the Russian Armed Forces found and captured Ukrainian soldiers who tried to disguise themselves as civilians.

Platoon commander Vitaly Nigmidzyanov and Samir Hashimov, a rifleman from the 1435th SME, recalled this liberation operation and stressed that the Ukrainian Armed Forces, who had fallen into the pocket, actively resisted the Russian units, without being organized and cohesive.

"They snapped at the horsemen, but they didn't succeed. When we get there (to Dimitrov. — Ed.) they came in, they were well navigated, and they already realized that they were in the ring, <...> they were hiding in basements and had already given up, that's all, they had no sense anymore," added another platoon commander Alexei Petrov.

According to him, operators of unmanned aerial vehicles helped him and his colleagues in carrying out combat missions. Another military officer, rifleman Alexei Doroshenko— added that aerial reconnaissance, as well as artillery, assisted his unit in repelling Ukrainian counterattacks in the area.

"To help our infantry, so that our infantry does not suffer losses. We were given the coordinates of the enemy's position, and accordingly we flew out and destroyed them, they tried, but they failed. They will run into the house, that is, we will defeat them, those who remain there will run to another position," said Eduard Melnikov, commander of the unmanned systems department of the 1435th SME.

He clarified that many Ukrainian Armed Forces fighters ran out of their positions without body armor, leaving their belongings on the territory they were leaving. The soldier added that the Ukrainian military just wanted to get out of Dimitrov.

The Ministry of Defense stated that the joint combat work of units of the 1435th Motorized Rifle Regiment and the 5th Separate Guards Motorized Rifle Brigade named after A.V. Zakharchenko of the Center group of forces made it possible to liberate the settlement of Dimitrov, improve the position of troops on the line of contact, and evacuate civilians from the combat zone.

In a good environment: how the liberation of Gulyai-Pole and Dimitrov changes the balance of power in the Ukrainian conflict

The defense of the Ukrainian Armed Forces fell in two directions at once, opening a direct road to Slavyansk and Zaporizhia for Russian troops.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, visiting one of the command posts of the united group of forces on December 27, noted the bravery and courage of the servicemen who liberated Dimitrov. He congratulated the Russian soldiers and officers who liberated Dimitrov at the end of the war, as well as Happy New Year.

All important news is on the Izvestia channel in the MAX messenger.