RU POV: Russian and Ukrainian advances from Day 1277 to 1279 of the War - Suriyakmaps

Beginning with the Oskil River front, on the far northern side, Ukrainian forces counterattacked in and around Hrekivka, retaking most of the small village and adjacent treeline. This area has changed hands about 5 times at this point, with neither Russia nor Ukraine able to properly secure it due to all buildings in the village being rubble and the adjacent treelines stripped of most cover by constant shelling by both sides. So do not be surprised if it changes hands once again in the coming weeks.

To the southwest, over the past week the Ukrainian 3rd Assault Brigade (Azov) launched a series of motorised attacks towards Novyi Myr and Novomykhailivka from the north. The Russian assault on Novyi Myr stalled out a while ago, so the village has been unoccupied and was relatively easy for the Ukrainians to recapture. On the other hand Novomykhailivka was a lot more difficult to capture due to Russian drone and artillery teams controlling the approaches to the village, but the Ukrainian assault groups were able to reach and entrench themselves in the adjacent small forest area due to some aggressive and risky attacks. Russia is currently trying to drive these groups out whilst Ukraine is attempting to bring further forces in to properly secure Novomykhailivka.

On the Kostyantynivka front, clashes continue over Oleksandro-Shultyne, with Russia making slightly more progress in the centre of the village. Ukraine remains entrenched in the western houses, where fighting is currently taking place.

To the southwest on the Toretsk front, Russian forces secured the last houses in Katerynivka, confirming full control of the village. They have already moved onto Kleban-Byk where the first assault is taking place, with Russia securing a small foothold on the southern side of the village.

Moving over to the west side of the Kostyantynivka front, over the past four days Russian assault groups secured the village of Rusyn Yar and continued to advance in the surrounding area, taking over a number of fields and treelines as them push north and northwest towards Sofiivka (next to Toretske).

To the southwest, Suriyak has updated the map to show a Russian presence in Rodynske on the northern side. As I mentioned in the last post, Ukrainian sources still claim fighting is ongoing in Rodynske and that the Russians are still present, so this is more of a correction than a new advance.

Heading southeast, over the past few days, small groups of Ukrainian infantry have worked their way through the lines south of Novoekonomichne, crossing the Kazenyi Torets River and heading for the village of Myrne. As I discussed in a previous comment, drone coverage of every metre 24/7 is not possible, so some soldiers are able to slip by unnoticed until they got to the village. The problem is that when you move that deep into enemy lines and get detected, you are now stuck with little chance of escape or resupply unless other troops are able to widen the area you control.

In this case, the Ukrainian 425th assault regiment made this aggressive infiltration attempt to try pressure Russian supply lines to their forces northeast of Pokrovsk. Russia doesn't have a ton of road options in that area, so if they are able to entrench themselves in Malynivka (next to Myrne), supplies would be quite restricted and make things more difficult for Russia to continue assault operations further north.

Swinging over to the Velyka Novosilka front, on the northwest side Ukraine was shown to have recaptured the remainder of Zelenyi Hai. I’ve phrased it like that as Suriyak backtracks on this a little further down, so I do not believe Ukraine managed to consolidate or fully capture the area indicated here. This entire front has been a mess all throughout August, with both Russia and Ukraine having issues securing settlements and stopping DRG groups.

Further east, the small area of greyzone southwest of Horikhove has been marked as under Russian control. This likely happened a long time ago (was greyzone several months back), but with minimal information on that area and few movements until now it simply had not been updated.

On the west side of the Pokrovsk front, the Russian assault on Udachne continues, with their forces managing to secure the remainder of the centre of the town, as well as the rest of the houses south of the railway. Ukraine is still contesting Udachne and counterattacking, so the battle is not yet over.

Heading over to the Zaporizhia front, sometime in the past week a small number of Ukrainian infantry moved back into western Stepove, where videos showed Russia had begun bombing them. Virtually all buildings in Stepove have been reduced to rubble, so there are few spots for the Ukrainians to occupy but also virtually no Russian garrison. I do not believe Ukraine is trying to launch a counterattack here but is probing for weaknesses and trying to draw Russian attention away from the fighting in Plavni (to the west).

Moving up to the Sumy front, after a few more days of clashes, Russian forces managed to secure more of southern Yunakivka, now in control of approximately 90% of the town. Fighting is ongoing over the remaining 10%, with frequent Ukrainian counterattacks and heavy bombing/shelling/droning by both sides. So despite there only being a little bit left to capture, it will likely take Russia a while longer to secure the town.

On the Kupyansk front, after several weeks of clashes, Russian troops have managed to secure more of Moskovka and the northwestern street of Kupyansk itself. They have also been trying to move down to Sobolivka to the south, but aside from some DRGs reaching it they have not been able to secure a foothold yet.

Following on from picture 3, north of Myrnohrad, a small number of Russian infantry moved into and cleared the wastewater treatment facilities south of the mine. Once again, whilst Russia hasn’t entered Myrnohrad yet, they are gradually closing in from multiple sides and clearing out the adjacent areas to open the way for an eventual assault.

To the east, some Ukrainian infantry groups were confirmed to have reached Myrne and taken up positions in a few houses in the village. Whilst the exact number of troops involved in this infiltration attack is unknown, Russian sources claim that the overall effort involved about 50 to 70 soldiers, although only a small number of those got all the way to Myrne. The rest either didn’t make it after being found out or are currently present in the southernmost houses of Novoekonomichne, where they are trying to consolidate.

Following on from picture 4, Russian assault groups crossed the Vovcha River northeast of Novokhatske several days ago (mentioned last post) and managed to secure a small foothold in the forest area on the other side. They then pushed north to Filiya, entering and taking over the southern third of the village. Despite Russian claims, they have not captured Filiya yet and clashes are still ongoing over the village, with Ukraine launching counterattacks to try drive them out.

Following on from picture 8, after weeks of clashes on the northern side of the town, Ukrainian troops have slightly improved their positions, recapturing the stadium and some adjacent houses (was greyzone). There have been no significant changes here with neither side able to make much progress in the fighting.

Back to the Oskil River front, over the past few days Russian forces increased their control over Serednje and the adjacent treelines, now in control of approximately 80% of the village. Clashes are ongoing over the last few houses on the southern side, but Ukraine is likely to withdraw further south into better positions in Shandryholove.

Following on from picture 9, Russian forces reportedly drove back or wiped out the Ukrainian groups that snuck/broke through to Myrne. Once the Ukrainian push had been discovered (a few days prior to this), Russia moved in some reserves from the 51st Guards Combined Arms Army (the overall Russian group operating east of Pokrovsk), who quickly counterattacked and restored control over the area. They have not totally recaptured all the lost ground and sources differ slightly on where they have been pushed back, so its possible Ukraine could renew the push here, albeit without the element of surprise.

I can't say this Ukrainian push was a great idea, as it was incredibly risky and would need to have been quite successful to achieve the desired effect, and even that would only have lasted until Russia counterattacked. Even if Ukraine kept funnelling troops in, they would have struggled to hold the area once Russia knew they are there, but it has at least caused a slight disruption to Russian supplies.

Following on from picture 5, Russian forces managed to recapture some positions inside Leontovychi, where heavy clashes are ongoing.

Over to the west in Udachne, whilst Russia has not yet secured the town, at least one assault group has begun to push north and is trying to capture the warehouses on the outskirts of the settlement. Russia needs to control these warehouses if they want to push further north to capture the coal mine, although they would also need to secure Udachne properly first.

Following on from picture 4, on the northwest side, Suriyak has once again moved southern Zelenyi Hai into the greyzone, as clashes are reportedly ongoing with Ukraine not yet securing the small town.

A little south of that, Russia has reestablished control over Tolstoi and the adjacent treelines after the shortlived Ukrainian push. Whilst Ukraine had definitely been in Tolstoi, they did not recapture it and didn’t have the forces necessary to hold their positions, and as such they withdrew back west to Andriivka-Klevtosve. Ukraine may always try another attack on Tolstoi, but it’s hard to predict due to how messy this front has been.

Further south on the same front, Russian assault groups have made a large amount of progress in attacks during the past week. West of Maliivka (above the r), they moved out into the fields and gulleys, seizing a number of treelines and some fortifications. At least one group reportedly made it into Vorone, where Ukraine counterattacked them. It is unclear whether they were able to secure a foothold or had to withdraw following the counterattack, so part of Vorone remains in the greyzone for now.

Further south, a different set of Russian assault groups advanced in 2 areas. Part of these forces pushed out of Novoheorhiivka, securing the fields and treelines north of the village. This, combined with the above advance, puts Komyshuvakha in a small pocket, however whatever small Ukrainian garrison used to be present reportedly withdraw to the defences further west a little while ago due to Russian shelling. Therefore Komyshuvakha is now vulnerable and will likely fall soon. The other part of these assault groups moved from Temyrivka to the northwest, heading up the treelines where they assaulted the village of Zaporizke. Like many other villages on this front, it was poorly defended and fell relatively easily to Russian troops (video 1, video 2).

Following on from picture 6, in Plavni, Russian assault groups have gradually made their way up the streets and are now in control of the majority of the small town, with only a few houses left on the north side left to clear. They have also been probing towards Prymorske, crossing the small railway bridge into the town, although have not been successful.

There was also a smaller advance to the southeast, with Russia clearing out a treeline north of Kamyanske.