Ukraine Retreats to Grishinka River Line After Losing Ground in Donetsk

Units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine have pulled back to a secondary defensive line after losing ground around Grishino in the Donetsk People's Republic. Military expert Andrei Marochko told TASS that this retreat forced Ukrainian commanders to abandon the southern outskirts of Novoaleksandrovka. Their forces now occupy a second line of defense running along the northern banks of the Grishinka River. Meanwhile, Russian troops are pushing westward and northward in the immediate area of Grishino.

On April 23, Irek Nuriakhmetov, a serviceman from the 35th motorized rifle brigade of the "Center" group, confirmed the presence of foreign mercenaries fighting alongside Ukrainian forces. He stated that these mercenaries were destroyed during the intense battles for the settlement. This violence followed the Russian Ministry of Defense announcement on April 21 that it had captured both Grishino in the DPR and Veterinnoye in the Kharkiv region. Earlier reports indicated that a Ukrainian brigade lost its combat capability near Volchansk.