Combat clashes in the Russia-Ukraine war hit a record high of 1,000 this week, with nearly half of them taking place in the Pokrovsk (380) and Toretsk (106) sectors. Fighting in southern Ukraine, particularly in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, has nearly halted, with the focus now shifting to Poskrovsk and the Kursk region in Russia, as Global Espreso reported.
Threat to Vuhledar
The town of Vuhledar, surrounded by endless fields, has been repelling all Russian attacks for two years, holding back the offensive to the west of Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia. However, the invading forces are getting closer each week to succeeding in their plan to cut off Ukraine’s logistics and surround Vuhledar. The Russians have already cut the road between Vuhledar and Kostiantynivka (a village), both south of the Vodiane crossroads and to the north, according to the DeepState map.
In fact, this road has become a gray zone, and Ukraine’s Defense Forces have retreated to defend the village of Vodiane and the surrounding area. The Russian army, on the other hand, is advancing south and north of the village. Given the trends, the Ukrainian Armed Forces may soon have to leave this settlement as well.
The biggest danger for Vuhledar will be the cutting of the Vuhledar-Kurakhove highway, which the Russians only need to break through another 7 km to reach. However, it is unlikely, as the Russians have advanced less than 10 km in this area since the beginning of the year.
Russia managed to occupy the southeastern part of Kostiantynivka village in the Kurakhove direction, but it was unable to further advance.
The Russians advance on Pokrovsk
This week, the Russians once again set a new record for the number of attacks in the Pokrovsk sector. Currently, the Ukrainian Defense Forces are struggling to find ways to stop this 120,000-strong invasion. In the southern section of the frontline, Russian troops completely pushed the Ukrainian Armed Forces beyond the Karlivka-Selydove road and occupied the villages of Komyshivka, Ptyche, Kalynove, and Memryk. Potential encirclement now threatens Ukraine’s forces, who have been holding the line in Karlivka for several months, forcing them to retreat to new positions further south.
However, the most intense fighting was on the western front. The Russian army advanced 4 kilometers toward Selydove, a town that was supposed to hold back the Russian invaders’ advance. Now, the Russians are less than 2 km from reaching its outskirts.
Ukraine expected Novohrodivka to be a strong defensive point, stalling the invaders for at least a month, but it proved to be the most ineffective defense. In just a few days, the Russians effectively occupied the town. The Ukrainian Defense Forces retreated, and the Russian troops have now opened the way to Pokrovsk and Myrnohrad, which are only 3.5 kilometers away.
Hrodivka’s defenders are holding on better. Russia has made no progress toward the town, forcing it to seek bypass routes from the north through Novotoretske and from the south through Krasnyi Yar.
Toretsk ‘towers’ under attack
While in Niu York Ukraine’s soldiers managed to stabilize the situation and prevent the complete occupation of the village, in Toretsk the situation is worse. The Russians managed to advance more than a kilometer along the main Dzerzhynskoho Street and seize the first spoil tip near the Pivnichna mine.
As a result, they began to balance Ukraine’s advantage in terms of height. As the Russians storm and flank the other two spoil tips in the southeastern part of town, they target to capture them. After completing their occupation of Zalizne village, the Russian troops moved westward to intensify their offensive on Niu York and the southern outskirts of Toretsk.
Stabilization in the Luhansk region
Russia’s invasion forces continued to expand their zone of control near the village of Pishchane, which they captured a month ago, and prepare an offensive on Kupyansk. At the same time, the Ukrainian Defense Forces not only stopped their attack on Stelmakhivka, but also launched a counteroffensive in certain areas of the front. For example, the 3rd Assault Brigade conducted a series of raids south of Raihorodka. One of them, in Novovodiane, resulted in a 5-square-kilometer expansion of Ukraine’s control area.
Ukraine’s Forces expand the Kursk front
Two parallel processes are underway in the Hlushkiv district, where the Ukrainian Armed Forces have encircled several thousand Russian troops. On the one hand, the Russian Armed Forces are trying to break the blockade and move additional weapons and equipment into the area. On the other hand, the Ukrainian army continues to pressure the Russians, gradually driving them into a dead end.
In addition to the three destroyed bridges, the Ukrainian military has added nine more destroyed or damaged pontoon crossings, which are equally unable to provide adequate logistics. In the Popovo-Lezhachi area, the Ukrainian forces crossed the Seim River and attacked north of the Tetkino checkpoint. The situation in this area remains unclear.
On the other side of the district, the Russian forces have organized defenses along the Synyak River and the villages of Serpovka, Muzhitsa, Novoivanovka, Kulbaki, and Synyak. However, the Russians’ position is precarious, as the Ukrainian Armed Forces can reach their rear at any time by crossing the border elsewhere.
The battle in Koreneve continues: Ukrainian troops are in full control of Koreneve village and the eastern part of the neighboring village. The Russians continue to defend in the western part of the village, and the Ukrainian Armed Forces are trying to cut off their retreat to Rylsk.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces continue to target the Rylsk-Kursk highway with drones and missiles, conducting offensive operations in this direction. For instance, Ukraine successfully destroyed Kadyrov’s command center near Bolshiye Ugony, which included the commander. They defeated and captured marines from the 810th Brigade near the village of Durovka.
As the Ukrainian Defense Forces advanced toward the villages of Kromskiye Byki and Bolshoye Soldatskoye, they left behind a number of villages where Russian troops remained. This week, they have been clearing the territories that are actually under Ukrainian control. For instance, they destroyed the garrison in Mala Lokna and forced the Martynovka defenders to retreat. Kauchuk, Sheptukhovka, Pogrebki, Biryukovka, and other villages are next in line for clearing. The Ukrainian Armed Forces will struggle to advance and gain complete control of the territory until they destroy or capture the garrisons of these settlements.
On the eastern flank of Ukraine’s offensive, the Ukrainian Defense Forces focused less on advancing than on securing the flanks and expanding the already-occupied territory. In particular, they successfully fought in Pushkarnoye and Russkaya Konopelka.
The Russians, on the other hand, are reinforcing their contingent in Kursk and conducting a series of counteroffensives on the eastern and northern flanks, especially in the area of Bolshoye Soldatskoye. It appears that they lack confidence in their abilities and are strengthening the Kursk and Kurchatov fortifications, but not Rylsk or Lgov.
At the same time, the Ukrainian Armed Forces continue their attempts to enter Russian territory in several other places in the Bryansk and Belgorod regions.
The war is progressing into Russian territory
Ukrainian drones successfully attacked the Marinovka airfield in the Volgograd region, which is 450 kilometers from the likely strike sites in Ukraine. This was the only airfield where the Russians had built hangar shelters for the aircraft, but these did not provide sufficient protection.
Three to seven fighters, out of the approximately 30 aircraft in the hangars at the time, suffered either complete destruction or severe damage. This was the most successful Ukrainian attack on Russian airfields to date, given the number of aircraft destroyed. In addition, warehouses on the airfield’s territory near Volgograd were destroyed, and the airfield itself suffered catastrophic damage. This marks the fourth airfield destroyed in a month.
Given that the Ukrainian Armed Forces possess a mini cruise missile drone with a range of 600 kilometers, which is extremely difficult to intercept and even detect, a large number of Russian airfields are now under threat of destruction. Consequently, Russian aircraft will have even fewer opportunities to evade strikes in time.
Additionally, Ukraine has provided the United States with a map of potential targets within the Russian Federation, which is a significant step toward gaining permission to strike these targets with Western weapons.
Near Voronezh, 125 kilometers from Ukraine, in the village of Novaya Melnitsa, Ukrainian missiles blew up a massive warehouse belonging to Russian Defense Intelligence. The site contained 18 warehouses storing 5,000 tons of ammunition. The resulting detonations lasted over a day, making it difficult to estimate the extent of the destruction.
A Ukrainian Neptune missile sank the last railroad ferry, Conro Trader, in the port of Kavkaz, loaded with 30 railroad cars carrying fuel. Now, Russia has no large ships left to transport ammunition to Crimea, as the Ukrainian Armed Forces had previously hit the ferries Slavyanin and Avangard.
Meanwhile, one of Rostov’s largest oil depots has been burning for ten days, and an explosion happened at the new Atlas oil depot in the same region.
Ukraine’s Air Defense Forces repelled the largest Russian attack on Ukrainian cities to date. Russia launched 127 different types of missiles and 109 drones. With new air defense systems and F-16s, Ukrainian forces were able to shoot down 102 missiles and 99 drones. Given the scale of the attack, the Armed Forces performed exceptionally well.
