Russian military reports taking Vasilykovoye in Zaporizhzhia region

Announcement of the village's liberation

Russia's Ministry of Defense announced on November 9 the liberation of the village of Vasilykovoye in Zaporizhzhia region: according to the ministry, units of the Vostok (East) group of forces established control over the settlement. Details of the operation were published the next day by Life.ru, citing an account given to TASS by a serviceman.

How the preparation and assault are described

Deputy commander of an assault platoon with the call sign Minsk, a serviceman of the 37th Separate Guards Motorized Rifle Brigade of the 36th Army, told TASS that for about a week fighters had been infiltrating in small groups — one or two at a time — into the rear of Ukrainian forces, gradually building up strength. According to him, the assault troops approached the settlement covertly from three directions: 'We came in from the rear — from three sides. In effect, we took them in a pincer.' On the way to the village, the serviceman claims, they had to cross a river, traverse belts of woodland and open fields. He says the assault troops entered Vasilykovoye itself after dark: 'We came in at night; the enemy was not expecting us, he was asleep.'

What the ministry says follows from taking the village

According to the Ministry of Defense, taking Vasilykovoye allowed Russian forces to flank the Ukrainian grouping near the neighboring village of Barvinovka and cut off the enemy's supply routes. The cited publications contain no assessments from the Ukrainian side and no independent confirmation of the situation in this area: the account of the assault's course rests on the story of a single serviceman, while the claim of liberation rests on a statement by the Russian military ministry.