The latest news from Debaltsevo. First, a temporary humanitarian corridor for civilians:

Colonel Cassad's analysis of the situation:

It is quite obvious that the order of abandoning Debalcevo won't be given even due to strictly military reasons, the city will be held to the last, gradually abandoning the positions to the east and south-east from Debalcevo if needed. What's also remarkable is that the two heavy battalion-tactical groups that stand in the area of Artyomovsk are still not engaged (1 group was engaged in fighting in the area of Popasnaya + up to a battalion of infantry and 25-30 armored vehicles were redeployed under Troitskoye).

This is in essence the crucial reserve that the junta holds for the case when the read will actually be fully cut and an unblocking strike will be required to the south-west of Svetlodarsk for the forces to exit the encirclement. Also these forces may be used for mitigating a possible breakthrough of the NAF in the area of Popasnaya (if the city will be actually captured, although at this time the interception of the M-103 road appears to be more probable than capturing Popasnaya).



A temporary "cease-fire" will indeed happen in the area of Debalcevo in the coming days for the civilians to exit the battle zone (either to the territory of the DPR or to Artyomovsk through Svetlodarsk). Our forces are engaged in informational and propaganda work on decomposing the junta military in the area of Debalcevo, offering them to abandon their positions and depart towards Svetlodarsk and further on. In principle from our side there is certain understanding that a complete success wasn't reached and it is easier to squeeze the junta forces out by intercepting their supplies and achieving their decomposition rather than wasting own forces in many-day fighting for fortified positions, which will lead to serious destruction of Debalcevo and adjacent areas. But because the junta isn't going to depart in good faith, then there's no way to escape the fighting. Of course, if the encirclement will actually happen, then the junta military will be finished off just like in the summer — on all severity and without mercy. So before the possible escalation of the fighting for Debalcevo it is best to remove the civilians from there in order to avoid repeating the situation with Uglegorsk, when heavy fighting unfolded in the town itself and quite a few civilians were indeed killed.