Azov says city remains under Ukrainian control, rejects Russian encirclement claim

The city of Dobropillia, located in Donetsk Oblast, is currently under the control of Ukraine's Defense Forces, according to the 1st Azov Corps of the National Guard, which issued this statement on September 26. Russia's Defense Ministry, however, claimed that Ukrainian forces in Dobropillia had been encircled. The Azov Corps dismissed these claims, stating that the Russian military leadership's plans for this fall involve only an encirclement that has not yet materialized.

In fact, commanders from Azov's units report that Russian incursions toward the city are being detected and neutralized. The Azov Corps also asserts that Russia is attempting to generate a battlefield "victory" for its populace by falsely claiming Dobropillia's capture or encirclement. Colonel Mykyta Nadtochii, the acting commander of the 1st Azov Corps, emphasized that Russian assaults typically result in losses before reaching Azov's positions.

Major General Pavlo Yatsiuk, head of the National Guard's Omega Special Purpose Center, reported that Ukrainian Defense Forces have killed around 1,500 Russian troops in the Dobropillia sector since the beginning of the year, though this figure has not been independently confirmed. Russia's Defense Ministry stated on September 24 that Russian troops had captured a smaller settlement named Dobropillia, known as Dobropillia Male in Russian military reporting, and claimed Ukrainian troops were surrounded in the area of the city of Dobropillia.

However, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) found no evidence supporting Russia's claim that Ukrainian forces in the city were encircled. ISW noted that the Russian Defense Ministry's map published on September 24 showed advances that did not align with observed Russian positions, particularly north of Dobropillia. The ISW's closest confirmed Russian-held territory was 10.2 kilometers (6.3 miles) from the city's southeastern outskirts.

Despite these discrepancies, ISW observed Russian infiltration groups east and northeast of Dobropillia, but concluded that these positions had not been consolidated under Russian control. ISW attributed Moscow's claims to part of a broader information campaign aimed at exaggerating Russian battlefield successes and portraying Ukrainian defenses as collapsing.

The ISW also suggested that Russia's repeated claims about Dobropillia were intended partly to divert attention from Ukrainian gains farther north near Lyman, where Ukrainian forces have recently eliminated a Russian salient, disrupting a Russian plan to advance from the Lyman and Dobropillia axes and eventually encircle Ukraine's fortified Sloviansk-Kramatorsk urban area.

Nonetheless, Russian forces have continued offensive operations in the Dobropillia sector, and Ukraine's General Staff reported Russian assaults toward the city on September 26. An officer from the National Guard's 12th Azov Brigade, identified as "Daffy" by call sign, similarly told Radio NV that Russia's claims about Dobropillia being occupied or encircled did not match the battlefield situation.