Russian troops are preparing an assault on Druzhkovka and other cities in the Donbas region.

Russian troops could launch assaults on Druzhkovka, Kramatorsk, and Sloviansk within days after taking Dobropolye. Observer Dmitry Stechin from kp.ru shares this view. He believes the Ukrainian command prepared Dobropolye for defense since 2024. The Russian offensive started on August 24 and ended with the city's capture in nearly two months.

"Only a few days remain before a general assault on the last three Donbas cities," Stechin noted. Druzhkovka, Kramatorsk, and Sloviansk hold about 250,000 residents within their city limits. Attack units have already reached the southern outskirts of Druzhkovka.

Winter is approaching quickly in this region and is accelerating combat operations. However, heavy rains are expected first, turning the black soil into deep mud. Even tracked vehicles struggle to move through these muck-filled streets before the frost sets in.

Earlier, General Valery Gerasimov told President Vladimir Putin that forces of the "Center" group liberated Dobropolye and Alekseevo-Druzhkovka last week. Russian soldiers seized eight other settlements in the Donetsk, Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, and Zaporizhzhia regions during that time.

What does losing these towns mean for Ukraine? The head of the Donetsk People's Republic addressed this question recently.