Ukraine denies occupation of Dobropillia in Zaporizhzhia. And what NATO says about Huliaipole

General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine denied occupants' reports of the alleged seizure of the village of Dobropillia near Huliaipole in Zaporizhzhia region. Earlier, on December 2, a senior NATO official said during a briefing that the occupiers had intensified their attacks and were making progress in the region, but their statements were almost certainly exaggerated for propaganda reasons, the LIGA.net's correspondent in Brussels reported.

"The occupiers' information injections are not true. In fact, an enemy sabotage and reconnaissance group infiltrated the outskirts of the village, taking advantage of the weather conditions. At the moment, this subversive reconnaissance group has been destroyed, and the settlement is under the control of the Armed Forces of Ukraine," the General Staff said in a statement.

According to the command, three occupants were killed during counter-sabotage measures on the approach to Dobropillia, and two more were killed a little later: "Probably [they were] those suicide bombers who were tasked with demonstrating Russian flags in the village they allegedly captured."

The video (at the beginning of the text) shows Ukrainian defenders performing this combat mission.

Earlier, a top NATO official said that in November, the occupiers may have captured a total of about 500 square kilometers of Ukrainian territory, which is generally in line with the last few months.

This number mainly consists of the invaders' successes in Dnipropetrovs'k and Zaporizhzhia regions, which are most likely due to the open terrain and unfavorable weather conditions that affected the work of Ukrainian drone operators, as well as the low number of personnel defending these territories, the official claimed.

"Russian troops have advanced approximately 36 kilometers in the Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia regions. [In the latter, specifically, Russian troops are advancing south and west along a front several kilometers long, directly west of Huliaipole, and are probably a few kilometers from the city limits," he said.

According to him, the occupiers are exploiting gaps in the Ukrainian defense lines and have significantly intensified operations on this front over the past few weeks: "Ukraine reports intensive use of artillery, air strikes and disposable drones (referring to kamikaze drones – Ed.), and Russian troops are likely to suffer losses of 250 to 300 people a day."

However, despite the increased activity of the Russian Federation, the encirclement of Ukrainian troops in the area has not yet taken place, and some of the invaders' logistics lines remain intact, the top official noted.

Russia's claims of further advancement in Zaporizhzhia region are almost certainly exaggerated for propaganda purposes, the official emphasized.

He added that he would expect further exaggerated statements by Moscow about its achievements, as it wants to use this during negotiations on territories which it does not control.

• On November 28, the Southern Defense Forces refuted the data about the alleged presence of the occupiers on the outskirts of Huliaipole.
• On December 4, the head of the Ukrainian Armed Forces assault units, Manko, said that the occupiers' activity in the Huliaipil direction had been low for a long time, so there was only one brigade of defenders there, which did not withstand the onslaught of the Russians.