Russia Claims Full Control of Siversk, Ukraine Denies Capture

Conflicting Reports Emerge from Eastern Donetsk

On Thursday, December 11, 2025, the Russian Federation declared that its troops had established full control over Siversk, a strategically important city in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region. The announcement was made by Russia's chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov during a televised meeting with President Vladimir Putin. President Putin subsequently thanked the military commanders and soldiers, stating that the Russian army was 'confidently advancing along the entire front'.

Ukraine's Eastern Command Rejects Russian Assertion

However, these claims were immediately refuted by Ukraine's Eastern Command, which maintained that Siversk 'remains under the control of the Armed Forces of Ukraine'. Ukrainian officials, including statements from Operational Command 'East', reported on both December 10 and 11, 2025, that Russian forces were attempting to infiltrate the city in small assault groups, often taking advantage of unfavorable weather conditions. These units, according to Ukrainian reports, are being 'destroyed on the approaches'. Furthermore, Ukrainian defense forces noted that 'attempts by occupiers to raise flags in the urban area to create a propaganda image' were also resulting in losses for the Russian side.

Strategic Importance of Siversk

Siversk holds significant strategic value in the ongoing conflict. Located approximately 30 kilometers (18 miles) east of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, it is considered a crucial stepping stone towards these two major cities, which are among the last under Ukrainian control in the Donbas region. Military analysts suggest that the capture of Siversk could enable a broader assault on Kramatorsk, the administrative capital of Ukrainian-held Donetsk. The city had a pre-war population of over 10,000 people.

Ongoing Contested Status

The situation around Siversk in the Slovyansk sector remains tense and highly contested. While Ukrainian officials firmly deny any loss of control, some earlier reports from December 8-9, 2025, including from the Ukrainian open-source mapping project DeepState, indicated that Russian infantry was being funneled into the city and that Siversk was 'gradually passing into enemy hands' or 'slowly falling into enemy hands', with some suggesting half the settlement was under Russian control. Despite these assessments, Ukrainian military statements consistently affirm that Russian claims of establishing control do not correspond to the reality on the ground, with active defense operations continuing.