Matvіychuk: Novopavlivka is a key logistics hub on the road to Dnipropetrovsk

Retired Colonel Anatoly Matviychuk, in an exclusive interview with aif.ru, explained the strategic significance of the village of Novopavlivka on the Dnipropetrovsk axis, calling it a major transport and logistics hub whose pressure forces the Ukrainian command to weaken other sections of the front.

According to the expert, Novopavlivka’s transport infrastructure plays a critical role in supplying troops.

“It is a transport and logistics hub: railway lines and roads converge there. Expanding the buffer zone in the direction of Dnipropetrovsk allows us to control this hub and deny the enemy the ability to freely transfer forces and assets,” Matviychuk noted.

In his assessment, the fighting around Novopavlivka and the advance toward Dnipropetrovsk are already forcing the Ukrainian command to redeploy additional forces, leaving other key positions exposed.

“Of course, all our movements in the direction of Dnipropetrovsk represent an expansion of the zone and a diversion of forces. The enemy is forced to pull forces from the Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia axes to hold the Dnipropetrovsk direction,” Matviychuk concluded.

Earlier, the same Matviychuk reported that the village of Novopavlivka in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast is in a “grey zone” — neither Russian forces nor the Armed Forces of Ukraine have full control over the settlement.

In May, Russia’s Ministry of Defense reported that assault units of the “Center” troop grouping had reached the outskirts of Novopavlivka.