RU POV: Russian advances from Day 1001 to 1003 of the War - Suriyakmaps

Beginning with Toretsk, as part of Russia’s deeper attacks in the town mentioned previously, Russian assault groups have expanded their control of the southern suburbs, capturing a number of apartment buildings and houses on the southern side. Its not entirely clear how many Ukrainian troops are in the small pocket south of this advance, which came about as part of Ukraine’s attempts to push towards the small hospital in the forest a few days ago.

For a bit of an explainer of why this back and forth is happening in Toretsk; not every single building in the town is occupied, with most sitting empty the majority of the time, save for some of the bigger apartment buildings which are used as a forward base/staging point. This means that assault groups from both sides can make advances in the same area on the same day (although at different times), parallel to each other, as for the most part they are clearing empty buildings. Drone operators are one of the deciding factors of this battle, as they are used to strike these assault groups and figure out which buildings they have actually occupied, so their own side does not have to go door by door every day to check if they have lost control of an area. So with both the Ukrainian and Russian advances, assault groups are moving forwards several blocks and will only run into enemy soldiers in a fraction of them, hence why it is so easy for them to gain and lose control of an area.

On the Kurakhove front, Russian troops made further progress in Sontsivka, crossing the river and capturing most of the southern side of the village. Ukraine is still trying to contest the settlement and has launched multiple counterattacks, so the battle is not over yet. Ukraine is mostly reinforcing their positions via crossings over the Solona and Strashnyi rivers on the west side of the Sontsivka, hence why they are unaffected by the destruction of the dam at Stari Terny.

To the southeast, Russian forces made slightly more progress in Berestky, capturing the first streets on the west side of the railway line. As previously mentioned, Ukraine is desperately trying to hold the settlement, however its position next to the reservoir and only 1 supply road are making this extremely difficult for them.

A little south of the previous picture, in Kurakhove itself, Russian assault groups have made good progress in the town, capturing the remainder of the eastern side, as well as crossing the small stream and establishing a foothold in the first streets on the ‘central’ section of Kurakhove. As with most settlement battles this year, once Russia establishes a firm foothold, their progress speeds up and they take fewer losses. This occurs due to Ukraine lacking infantry to properly defend settlements (i.e. not enough to man ever building), as well as the average training level of a Russian soldier being much higher than their Ukrainian counterparts (due to Ukrainian military being mostly conscripts with decreased training times). Drones remain the single best method Ukraine has for contesting Russian attacks, but they simply cannot compensate once urban fighting commences.

There are also multiple reports that Russia has made even more progress than is shown here, with some Russian sources claiming they are already close to the highrise area, however a lack of footage from either side means confirming this is difficult.

To the south, Russia made a small advance south of Dalnje, expanding the buffer around the village.

On the Velyka Novosilka front, Russia troops made more progress to the northwest of Shakhtarske, capturing several more fields and treelines as they close in on Rozdolne. Assaults of the village will likely occur within the coming days, as Russia seeks to cut Velyka Novosilka off from the northeast.

To the south, Russia also started advancing west of Novodonetske, occupying several fields that Ukraine had abandoned.

Around Selydove, Russia continued to slowly expand it control of the surrounding area. To the north, Russian troops made some small advances through the fields, continuing their gradual progress in reaching the settlements to the north (Vidrodzhennia and Dachenske).

To the west, a Russian assault group has captured another field and treeline west of Petrivka (above the a), setting themselves up for an assault on Pustynka (blue dot under the i).

Following on from Picture 2, Russian troops advanced out of Novoselydivka, capturing the large field on the southern side of the town. This was abandoned by Ukraine a few days ago, after Russian advances to the south threatened to cut this area off.

To the south, Russia has made further progress in Berestky, capturing most of the southern side of the village. The front line currently sits along the small stream that splits Berestky in half, although its size and many crossings means it will not aid Ukrainian defence of the rest of the settlement much. The few houses on the southern side still under Ukrainian control (under the a, near the water), have almost certainly been abandoned by Ukraine, so Russia will likely capture these within the next day or 2. If Ukraine has not already begun preparing to evacuate Berestky, they should be doing so now, as once Russia crosses the stream the remainder of the village (mostly just small houses and sheds) will fall quite quickly.

Following on from Picture 4, on the Velyka Novosilka front, Russian forces launched multiple mechanised attacks across a wide area, as they close in on Velyka Novosilka itself. To the north, Russian troops captured multiple fields and reached the outskirts of Rozdolne, with initial reports suggesting assaults on the village are already underway.

To the south, Russian troops also captured a sizeable area of fields across a 15km wide part of the front, as well as several Ukrainian trenches and positions. This mechanised attack also puts Russian within 2km of the Velyka Novosilka, with only a couple of small dugouts and one big trench network left on the eastern side. Although the Kashlahach River sits between them and the bulk of the town, Russian troops can still capture the outermost buildings of Velyka Novosilka from this side, as well as cutting off the main supply road of the town (if successful in assaults). Most of the town’s defences were built in an arc from southwest to southeast, as Ukraine did not anticipate Russia being able to attack the area from the east or north.

One notable aspect of these advances, which many sources (both Russian and Ukrainian) commented on, was just how easily it occurred. Russia was able to take 40+km2 and get close to a Ukrainian supply and military hub with comparatively minimal losses (but not zero losses), and all in the span of a day. This occurred due to the poor defence of this part of the front, with Ukraine simply not having the manpower to properly man and defend this stretch, meaning trenches/dugouts were either defended by only a couple of isolated soldiers (minimal support), or completed unmanned. This meant Russian assault groups could clear these areas much quicker, with Ukrainian troops either retreating as Russia approached, or being quickly wiped out by the far more numerous and well supported Russian assault groups.

Ukraine’s 128th Mountain Assault Brigade, part of the 118th Territorial Defence Brigade, and the Mechanized Battalion of the Presidential Brigade are holding this part of the front. With the frontline in this area having expanded (in length) due to Russian advances over the past month, these units are struggling to defend the larger area, particularly due to the lack of pre-built defences. With Ukraine not having any units in reserve (as all its available units are deployed to one front or another), they are in serious trouble and unlikely to be able to stop the Russian advances on this part of the front, although not from a lack of trying. Ukraine will have to rapidly redeploy another unit from another front to try reinforce, however even if they do so it will likely take too long to prevent Russia cutting the northwestern road of Velyka Novosilka, and before they begin to assault the town.

In Kursk, following several weeks of clashes in Nikolaevo-Darino and Darino, Russian forces have successfully captured all of the former, and most of the latter. There are still a couple of ruined warehouses in Darino technically under Ukrainian control, however these were likely abandoned over the past few hours as Ukraine lost control of the village, and was forced to pull back to Sverdlikovo (next settlement east). Russia will need to properly secure the area and establish some positions before it can make a move on Sverdlikovo, which will take them a few days at least.

As for the rest of Kursk, whilst there are still clashes going on in many areas, the intensity has dropped somewhat from the peak seen a 1 to 2 weeks, when both Russia and Ukraine were launched large attacks and counterattacks. Aside from the area mentioned above, most of the fighting is currently occurring in and around Plekhovo, on the southern side of the front. Heavy clashes will almost certainly kick off again in other areas soon.

On the Oskil River front, Russian assault groups entered Kopanky and took up positions in the northeastern side of the village. Fighting here was relatively low intensity due to how few troops both sides were employing in this area, with some Russian sources claiming the handful of remaining Ukrainian soldiers have already abandoned the rest of the village (unconfirmed for now).

On the Chasiv Yar front, Russia has gradually captured the last of the fields and small trenches to the east of the canal, re-establishing the defence line in the area (breached back in 2023). However, in the overall fighting on this front this advance does not change much. Ukraine had mostly lost control of their foothold on the east side of the canal 2 months ago, and have just slowly been pushed out of the remaining area since then. Obviously it is now much more difficult for Ukraine to counterattack this area due to the canal line, however they hadn’t been doing so anyway. As I’ve mentioned many times before, this whole area has seen minimal activity (comparatively) due to the focus of both sides on Chasiv Yar (to the north), and Toretsk (southwest).

West of Selydove, a Russian assault group has pushed north from Yuriivka, and has reached the southern outskirts of Pustynka. As previously mentioned, the lack of defences and the small size of the village mean Ukraine will likely lose control of Pustynka very quickly once assaults begin, which should occur within the next day or 2.

Heading south to the Kurakhove front, Russian troops cleared and captured the last of the buildings south of the stream in Beretsky, as mentioned in picture 6.

In Kurakhove itself, Russian assault groups were confirmed to have made more progress in the central area of the town, captured several more streets and part of the industrial area next to the reservoir. Russia is employing a large amount of FABs and drones which is making it extremely difficult for Ukraine to mount a solid defence, as troops concentrations and strong defensive points are simply being blown away. It is still a little too early to call the town ‘lost’ for Ukraine, however we are quickly approaching that point if the course of the battle does not change.

A little further south of the previous picture, Russian troops continue to squeeze Ukrainian positions inside of the pocket along the Sukhi Yaly River. With Ukraine mostly abandoning the fields to the north, Russia has begun cutting through towards settlements in the centre of the pocket, capturing some more fields in this advance on the way to Romanivka.

Following on from picture 7, Russian forces continued to press in on Velyka Novosilka, capturing more fields to the east of the town, as well as reaching the outskirts of Rozdolne, where initial clashes have begun.

With regards to the advance east of Velyka Novosilka, this one is quite risky, as that area is pinned between 2 rivers, with Ukrainian minefields covering the area up to the farm complex, where there are also several trenchlines. It will be very difficult for Russia to break through this particular part to get to Velyka Novosilka, although Russian command may consider it viable given how thinly stretched Ukrainian units in the area are. If Russia can take that farm, it’ll provide them with a staging position for their assaults on Velyka Novosilka.