Overview
- Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov told Putin the operation is proceeding to plan and reported Seversk under Russian control during a Kremlin videoconference.
- Commander Igor Kuzmenkov said units are conducting clearance operations in the city to find and eliminate isolated Ukrainian soldiers.
- Putin praised the head of the Southern grouping for meeting a pledge to take the city by December 15 and directed troop commanders to keep executing the special-operation plan.
- Commanders reported additional gains, including control of the southern part of Dimitrov, fighting for Stepanovka, claimed advances near Kucherovka and Kurilovka, and progress toward Konstantinovka; they said Seversk’s capture enables further moves toward Slovyansk.
- A field report from Seversk briefly cut out, which Gerasimov attributed to enemy electronic-warfare interference, while the Kremlin said it has received no U.S. information on the conflict and Iran’s envoy flagged a planned Putin–Pezeshkian meeting in Turkmenistan.