Budanov says Putin was misled about capturing Dobropillia

The Ukrainian city of Dobropillia remains under Ukraine’s control, and Russia’s claims that it has been captured are untrue. This was stated by Budanov, who says the commander of Russia’s “Center” grouping is deliberately misleading Putin.

“At this difficult moment, all sides must act prudently, above all assess the situation realistically and pass on truthful information. The objective fact is that Dobropillia is under Ukraine’s control, so there can be no talk of Russian troops ‘capturing’ this Ukrainian city,” Budanov was quoted as saying by the Unian agency.

According to him, Colonel General Andrey Ivanaev is intimidating his own subordinates and giving them impossible tasks so that they show the capture of Dobropillia at any cost.

Ivanaev had already announced earlier that the city had been taken. On 16 October, Putin said the same, adding that Luhansk Oblast is supposedly entirely under Russian control, while Ukraine holds only about 10 percent of Donetsk Oblast and roughly 16.5 percent of Zaporizhzhia Oblast.

Two days later, Zelensky said that Dobropillia, Kostiantynivka and other settlements mentioned by Russia remain under Ukraine’s control. He did, however, admit that the situation in Dobropillia is “not simple”: Ukrainian forces are facing Russian infiltration groups that are seeping into the city.

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Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz