RU POV: Russian and Ukrainian advances from Day 1301 to 1303 of the War - Suriyakmaps

Russian Forces Advance: 0.73 km²

Advance = 0.73km2

For today’s post we are starting up on the northern front, where Russian assault groups have made some gains in the western side of Vovchansk. Over the past 2 weeks Russian forces have slowly been probing and pushing in the industrial area of the town, taking over most of the oil extraction plant and surrounding buildings. Activity here is still quite low, a fraction of what this front saw at its peak in mid-2024, however the Russians are trying to see if they can gradually expand their control whilst Ukraine is preoccupied with other fronts.

Russian Forces Advance: 13.00 km²

Advance = 13.00km2

On the far northern side of the Kupyansk front, Russia restarted operations in the border area of Kharkiv, crossing with a small number of infantry in a few places and taking over a number of fields and treelines. They are headed for Odradne, a small border village that has no fortifications or defences around it and which will almost certainly be poorly defended.

Russia and Ukraine both have rather few units in this border area, so neither is able to launch many attacks nor sustain long-term offensive operations, but that also means there are gaps in surveillance coverage and opportunities for Russia to make smaller pushes such as this one.

Russian Forces Advance: 0.26 km²

Advance = 0.26km2

Down to Kupyansk itself, Russian assault groups cleared and captured a couple more streets in northwestern Kupyansk, as clashes continue. The exact situation in the town is still unclear, but Russia is reported to be slowly advancing from the north and northwest.

Russian Forces

No advance

Down to the Lyman front, the last surviving remnants of the Ukrainian forces in the Serebryansky forest has withdrawn either over the Siverskyi Donets River to Dronivka or out the last little gap to the west. Russia still has to check and clear the last fortifications in this section, but once that is complete the battle for the Serebryansky forest will come to an end.

Their next goals on this front will be to capture Yampil (below the @) and pressure or assault Dronivka, in order to help the Siversk front.

Russian Forces Advance: 1.64 km²

Advance = 1.64km2

Moving onto Kostyantynivka, the Russian infantry I mentioned in the previous post have expanded their control of the Dachas on the eastern side of the city. For now Ukraine is simply trying to hit them with drones and artillery, but if their progress continues Russia may find its way to the city proper and will start probing Ukrainian defences.

Russian Forces Advance: 1.18 km²

Advance = 1.18km2

On the far northeastern side of the Pokrovsk front, Russian troops made a minor advance east of Shakhove, recapturing some treelines.

Russian Forces Advance: 3.38 km²

Advance = 3.38km2

Over on the Novopavlivka front, Russian assault groups made a small advance west of Horikhove, capturing some fields and treelines. Russian activity on this front has seen an increase in the past week, so they may be considering trying to push onto Novopavlivka.

Russian Forces Advance: 17.11 km²

Upper Middle Advance = 7.30km2, Lower Middle Advance = 9.81km2

Moving onto the Hulyaipole front, Russian troops made some larger gains in the fields west of Temyrivka and south of Novoivanivka, as Ukraine was unable to contest these areas due to losing the surrounding settlements. The Russian assault of Novoivanivka is ongoing, although judging by the footage and other village battles on this front it will not last long.

Russian Forces Advance: 1.86 km²

Advance = 1.86km2

Context

Pivoting to the Sumy front, the situation in Bezsalivka has now been clarified a few weeks after Ukraine tried to retake the village (beginning of September). Russian troops were confirmed to have held the village and surrounding forest area, forcing the Ukrainians to retreat. As mentioned at the time, this changes little as Bezsalivka has minimal value for either side and Russia has not been trying to push more over the border here.

Russian Forces Advance: 3.86 km²

Advance = 3.86km2

Following on from picture 2, the Russian infantry that crossed the border a few days ago managed to clear and captured Odradne, which was mostly abandoned. As I explained in this comment, Russia is trying to create a smaller pocket along the border by pushing south towards their own positions west of Kamyanka, isolating the area around Dvorichanske and Bolohivka, forcing Ukraine to withdraw. It will not happen quickly just due to the low number of forces involved, but they will gradually work their way towards achieving this.

Russian Forces Advance: 4.60 km²

Advance = 4.60km2

Context

Over in Pokrovsk, whilst heavy clashes are ongoing we do have a rare update from the western side of the city. At least some Russian infantry have working their way through the western suburbs, taking up positions in some of the houses south of the railway line, as well as ambushing some Ukrainian infantry moving through the area. I do not think that Russia has full control of this area but rather have managed to move an increasing number of troops in who have spread out and are trying to reach the railway line. Suriyak has also marked the fields and cemetery south and southwest of this advance as Russian controlled, although those have been mostly greyzone for some time now.

The risk for Ukraine here is that Russian assault groups are closing in on the main supply routes for Pokrovsk and Myrnohrad, which both intersect in the northwestern industrial area (a few hundred metres north of this advance). Occupying that area would leave Ukraine with one supply route from the north which will be incredibly vulnerable to interdiction by Russian drones. That is a way off though as Russia will still need to slowly advance through the city to reach this area. I’ll also note that some Ukrainian journalists and soldiers are painting a pretty bleak picture of the supply situation already, saying they have struggled to get any vehicles into the city for over a month now and are losing many that they just can’t replace fast enough.

Russian Forces Advance: 6.43 km²

Left Advance = 0.77km2, Middle Advance = 4.55km2, Right Advance = 1.11km2

Moving onto the last section of the Velyka Novosilka front, with Ukraine’s counterattacks around Zelenyi Hai and Andriivka-Klevtsove coming to an end (for now) Russian troops have been working on clearing out some of the adjacent fields and forest areas near the small towns (left 2 advances).

Adjacent to this however, some Russian infantry did in fact cross the Vovcha River north of Novokhatske (briefly mentioned yesterday) and have taken up positions in eastern Ivanivka. These buildings haven’t been occupied by Ukraine in a little while as they were too close to Russian lines, leading to Russia being able to sneak across the river and enter the town. The Russians have entered Ivanivka earlier than I expected and the operations on this front could change significantly if Russia are able to take the entire settlement and set up a bridgehead.

Russian Forces Advance: 6.30 km²

Advance = 6.30km2

Following on from picture 8, Russian assault groups captured Novoivanivka after a few days of clashes, as well as securing some of the fields to the south of the village. Yet again, like many other settlements on this front, Russian forces were able to keep Ukraine from stabilising and setting up a proper defence, leading to the garrison and surrounding forces being hit and scattered before the Russians even set foot in the village.

From here these Russian troops will likely try work their way down the stream to Novohryhorivka, which will probably fall as quickly as Novoivanivka did.

Russian Forces Advance: 0.52 km²

Advance = 0.52km2

Context

On the west side of the Zaporizhia front, Russian troops built on their earlier infiltrations and pushes into Prymorske, managing to set up a foothold on the southern side of the town. This battle will be quite interesting to watch, as Prymorske is a long settlement that stretches for over 10km along the Dnieper river, up to the Konka River. For now Russia is limited by only having one supply route into their foothold, so they will want to work on expanding it and pressuring neighbouring Stepnohirsk before trying to tackle the bulk of Prymorske.

Russian Forces Advance: 0.74 km²

Lower Left Advance = 0.74km2

Back to the Oskil River front, on the north side, Ukraine counterattacked again over the past week and recaptured some of the small forest areas west of Hrekivka. This is the fifth time this area has changed hands (that we know of) in the past two months, owing to neither side being able to push much further past this area once they take it.

To the southwest, Russian assault groups captured more of Shandryholove, now in control of about 70% of the village. The remaining portion is currently being fought over.

Russian Forces Advance: 4.86 km²

Advance = 4.86km2

Following on from picture 12, Russian forces cleared out more of the fields and treelines on their side of the Vovcha River, north of Andriivka-Klevtsove. As with the crossing into Ivanivka from the east, the Russians may be considering trying to enter the western side of the town by crossing the river in the forest area.

Russian Forces Advance: 11.17 km²

Top Advance = 6.23km2, Bottom Advance = 4.97km2

Following on from picture 13, on the north side, Russian assault groups finished clearing Berezove, confirming full control of the village. You know the drill by now, Ukrainian vehicles and soldiers in and around the settlement were hammered with drones and artillery in the days leading up to the assault, allowing Russia to enter and clear it relatively easily. These troops will likely move onto nearby Kalynivske, which has been getting hit by the Russians for over a week now.

To the south, with Olhivske falling under Russian control a few days ago, a different Russian infantry group has moved out of Vyshneve, clearing out some of the fields and treelines northwest of the village. Thus, the Russians are now closing in on the small town of Poltavka (bottom blue dot) from three sides, which will be incredibly difficult for Ukraine to defend once assaults begin.

Ukrainian Forces Advance: 4.91 km²

Top Advance = 4.91km2,

From Picture 15