RU POV: Russian and Ukrainian advances from Day 1101 to 1105 of the War - Suriyakmaps

Starting this update not in Kursk, but on the Velyka Novosilka front. Russian forces entered and captured the majority of Skudne (very small village), following the capture of Novoocheretuvate the week prior. This was quite simple for the Russians, as Skudne had already been abandoned due to being too exposed and with no real defensive positions. Suriyak has left a couple of buildings in the greyzone, likely just being overly cautious, but the settlement is effectively under Russian control.

Moving to Kursk, Russian forces crossed the international border into Sumy near Nikolaevo-Darino, moving into and capturing part of the village of Zhuravka. The first Russian soldiers actually crossed the border in this area a little over a week ago, at the same time as the push for Novenke and Basivka discussed in this update. I didn’t mention it at the time as it was only a small recon group and didn’t want to confuse people with the other border crossing, but this has now been confirmed to be a proper advance.

This is part of the same operation that is happening east of here in Novenke and Basivka, as Russian command are trying to increase pressure on Ukrainian supply lines to Kursk by advancing over the border towards the main supply road running through Yunakivka. Whilst Zhuravka is obviously much further away from said road than Basivka, its important Russia attack here to cover the west flank if Russia is able to take Basivka, and to split Ukraine’s attention so they cannot just focus on holding the one border spot.

Over to the Kupyansk front, Suriyak has made a large correction north of the town, showing Ukraine back in control of the fields and forest area all the way up to and slightly over the Hnylytsya River. Back in mid-November 2024 Russian troops made a sudden dash into northern Kupyansk with a few vehicles, catching everyone off-guard. Whilst this assault attempt failed, we never heard what happened with the forest areas to the north that the Russians had moved through to reach the town.

Now 3.5 months later, enough time has passed with no Russian activity shown in this area and some small amounts of Ukrainian activity spotted near the river last week, that the map can be updated and we can say that Ukraine recaptured that area. Russia likely pulled out of this area back in late-November, but the lack of any evidence from either side meant it couldn’t be updated until now. This likely happening so long ago, and with little activity over the past few months, that there isn’t likely to be any attacks or counterattacks by either side here for a while.

On the Oskil River front, after a little over a week of fighting, Russian forces have cleared the fortifications in the forest areas east of Yampolivka, with surviving Ukrainian troops retreating to Torske. This secures Yampolivka’s east flank for Russia, and means they can start preparing for an attack on Torske from the north to try break the stalemate that has been ongoing for over 2 years.

Following on from picture 1, Russian forces were confirmed to have captured Skudne, with Suriyak now marking the last buildings as Russian controlled.

At the same time to the west, a separate Russian group captured the last street in Burlatske, confirming full control of the village. The Russian assault groups immediately continued pushing out from the settlement, exploiting weak Ukrainian lines in this area to capture a number of fields and treelines around Burlatske.

For a bit more detail on units in this area; the Russian 394th Motor Rifle Regiment, 60th Motor Rifle Brigade and 57th Motor Rifle Brigade were all involved in capturing Makarivka, Storozheve, Neskuchne then Vremivka prior to the battle for Velyka Novosilka (all west or southwest of the town). Following their break after the battle, the Russian 60th Motor Rifle Brigade were responsible for the initial large gains made in this area since mid-February, however they quickly swapped over with the 394th Motor Rifle Regiment a little while ago, who were the ones who captured Pryvilne and Burlatske, whilst the 60th secured the large area they had taken. The 57th Motor Rifle Brigade are the ones operating west of them, who captured Novosilka and are likely preparing to attack Vilne Pole. These 3 units have been coordinating well and they’ve been backed up by good drone and air support, which has led to the progress you have seen in this area over the last few weeks.

On the northern side of the Oskil River front, Russia launched a new attack around Zahryzove, recapturing the forest area west of the village, as well as a field to the east, that they lost to Ukraine a few weeks prior. Theres still a lot of back and forth over Zahryzove, with the battle for the settlement not expected to end anytime soon.

Following on from picture 2, along the border, Russian troops made a little more progress in Zhuravka, now controlling about half the village. Progress is slow due there only being one route for attack, supply and reinforcement, which is attacked by drones.

To the northeast, Russian forces captured a large area of fields and treelines north of Sverdlikovo and Lebedevka, following the capture of the latter last week. Much like we’ve seen in other examples, this area has likely been abandoned by Ukraine since Lebedevka fell, it was just a matter of waiting for Russia to clear the treelines and check for stragglers or traps. I’ll also note that a few Russian sources claim that they’ve also taken Loknya (just a farm next to the reservoir), although this can’t be confirmed yet. It certainly is Russia’s next goal in this area, as it will help them cut off supplies to Malaya Loknya to the north.

To the south, Russia finished clearing the last houses in Kurilovka after the battle, confirming full control of the settlement. This event opens up a few major options for Russia, if they can actually pull this off, and they all involve the forests west of Kurilovka. The first would be for Russia to use Kurilovka as a forward position on the other side of the Psel River, sending troops southwest through the forest to flank Guevo. No assault on Guevo has actually taken place despite being right outside the settlement for months, as the geography makes bringing supplies and troops in very difficult. If Russia can flank Guevo from the north they might be able to cut it off from supplies or at least attack It from a different angle. The second option would be for Russia to push west towards Melovoi (a small farm) and the larger livestock farm, occupying positions in the forest next to the supply road. Whilst this road has seen numerous vehicles hit by Russian drones, it is still used to some degree, so getting infantry in place to establish fire control over the road will be critical in cutting Ukraine off. Both options will not be easy, but its possible to pull off if Russian command execute it well.

Back to the Oskil River front, this time the central area. Over the past few days Russia has slightly expanded their control of the west side of the Zherebets River, capturing several treelines and a few positions north of Kolodyazi (bottom blue dot). Russia hasn’t actually assaulted the village yet, but is trying to make its way around the flanks to avoid having to go through the stream next to the settlement.

On the Zaporizhia front, a small Russian group made a minor advance south of Shcherbaky, capturing a few fields and a couple of dugouts east of their forward positions. Like the other random advances we get on this front, these are opportunistic and not part of any offensive or slow push.

In Toretsk, Ukraine’s infiltration of the town continues. One of the infiltration groups that reached the central mine (under the a) was pushed out by Russia before it could secure any position. Russia is far from being safe though, as Ukraine is still sending more and more small groups who are trying to breach deep into Toretsk.

For an unusual update, on the northern front, a small Russian recon group crossed the border at the Nekhoteevka checkpoint, clearing the buildings. Like with the border raids/crossings in northern Chernihiv Oblast (around Muravi) and northern Kharkiv Oblast (in Sotnytskyi Kozachok), this is being done to try force a Ukrainian response and probe for troops in the area. As has happened before, if Ukraine does send in a group to try ‘retake’/check the area, Russia will be waiting with drones to strike them, so its best that Ukraine simply monitor the situation, but not respond so as to save wasting resources. This border checkpoint holds no value, being mostly destroyed already, and the Russian recon group that came through here almost certainly left within hours.

North of Kupyansk, Ukraine launched a counterattack towards Zapadne with a small mechanised group (1 IFV, 2 APCs). Whilst this attack was stopped by the Russians, with all 3 vehicles being disabled/destroyed on the road next to Zapadne, it did allow Ukraine to retake the forest areas north of the village. We’ll need to wait and see if Ukraine can capitalise on this with a new assault group to try recapture Zapadne, or if Russia is able to capture the forest areas again.

Following on from picture 10, Ukraine continues to flood infiltration groups into Toretsk, with several of them moving into the north of the town and retaking the Krymske mine. At the same time, another set of groups were sent in vehicles from Shcherbynivka into the southern side of the town, although these were not so lucky and were hit by Russia whilst crossing and the fields and once they reached the buildings. Suriyak has left this area greyzone as its not clear how many, if any, survived to take up positions there, although it will be clarified eventually.

Its hard for me to comment on Toretsk due to the lack of information about what is currently occurring. What it will come down to is whether Russia can act quickly enough to stamp out these infiltration groups before they can set up positions, or if Ukraine can flood enough soldiers in that they can reopen the battle for the city and set up a new frontline. The situation is very fluid and could swing either way, so I won’t make any predictions here. Its incredibly important that Russia holds the central mine and central apartment blocks, as those were the areas that significantly slowed down their progress in Toretsk, with the battle speeding up immediately after they were captured. Losing them again could put them back 2-3 months. This also isn’t free for Ukraine either, as they are losing a decent amount of men and equipment trying to flood these groups into the town.

On the far eastern side of the Pokrovsk front, Ukraine launched a small counterattack between Baranivka and Vodyane Druhe, retaking some fields and one of the longer treelines. Ukraine’s goal here is quite clear, aiming to cut off the Russian forces in Vodyane Druhe and Berezivka by pushing in and reaching the main road (under the S), however this will be very difficult to pull off as theres a number of trench networks in this area Russia now occupy, and this spearhead is very narrow and thus quite vulnerable to counterattacks.

On the opposite side of the Pokrovsk front, after months of back and forth fighting Ukraine recaptured the last of Uspenivka in a counterattack. Surviving Russian forces have retreated to neighbouring Novovasylivka, where they are digging in in anticipation of Ukraine continuing to push east.

On the Kurakhove front, Russia made a small advance west of Ulakly, clearing some fields and a few treelines. This is likely the Russian assault groups that took Ulakly moving towards Kostyantynopil to help out with the battle for the town, as they’ve been reorganising for the past week and a bit.

Fighting in Kostyantynopil continues, but has shifted from the initial rush to positional battles. Russian units are primarily trying to bomb and drone out the Ukrainian garrison from the houses and basements, whilst Ukraine tries to resecure the town with counterattacks from Bahatyr (off map west).