President Putin has praised the “coordinated and professional” actions of troops involved in capturing Dobropolye
Published 16 Oct, 2026 19:43
| Updated 16 Oct, 2026 20:45
Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin at a command post at an undisclosed location in Russia on October 16, 2026. © Sputnik
Russian forces have liberated the key Ukrainian stronghold of Dobropolye in Donbass, Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov has reported to President Vladimir Putin.
During a meeting on Friday, Gerasimov said assault units from several brigades had taken part in the operation and were searching basements for any remaining Ukrainian troops.
Putin praised the “coordinated and highly professional” actions of the Russian assault units, noting that Ukrainian forces had turned Dobropolye into a “robust stronghold.”
In late September, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that its forces had encircled Dobropolye.
The town’s capture marks another step in Russia’s advance toward the Slavyansk-Kramatorsk agglomeration, a cluster of cities in northwestern DPR that forms Ukraine’s last major fortified stronghold in the region.
