RU POV: Russian and Ukrainian advances from Day 1347 to 1349 of the War - Suriyakmaps

Starting off today on the Kupyansk front, on top of the earlier crossing into the central houses of the east side of the town, the Russians have also been confirmed to have pushed in from the north. This is the third attempt to enter eastern Kupyansk from the north, although this one has a much greater chance of succeeding due to western Kupyansk being mostly under their control. Assault groups gradually worked their way down from the forest north, crossing the Hnylytsya River and establishing a foothold on the northern streets of the town. Some sources suggest this has been slowly ongoing for up to a month now, but only recently were they able to secure buildings on the north side.

This puts Ukraine in an even more awkward spot as their forces in eastern Kupyansk now have to deal with attacks from the north and west, whilst also trying to hold the outer edges of the pocket open.

Down to the Oskil River front, Ukraine counterattacked back into Borivska Andriivka before the Russians could establish themselves in the village (they recently took it), driving them back out. The Russians have already begun counterattacks so we will see some more back and forth over the locality in the coming weeks.

Over on the Lyman front, over the past few days Ukraine launched a series of counterattacks in Yampil, managing to push back through the centre and into the northern side of the village. Control over the small town is an absolute mess with both sides having small numbers of infantry scattered all over the place, so neither has a secure hold. In my opinion most of Yampil should be marked greyzone due to the mixed presence of infantry and the earlier Russian and this Ukrainian advance should not have been marked by Suriyak.

Moving onto the Pokrovsk front, things are getting increasingly messy in and around the pocket. On the north side, Ukraine has been launching counterattacks, managing to break back into Rodynske before the Russians could secure the surrounding area and bring in more forces. It is hard to judge how many troops managed to break back into the town due to conflicting reports and old footage, but then we also have both Russia and Ukraine bombing the similar areas of Rodynske. For now just consider this an ongoing fight as Ukraine tries to break the northern flank of the pocket.

Within Pokrovsk, Russian assault groups have further expanded their control, taking over the remainder of the buildings immediately north of the railway as well as pushing further into the northeastern side of the city. There are several streets of apartment blocks in this area that are Ukraine’s last ‘solid’ position in the city and even those are being flanked as they are just too disorganised and lack the manpower to form any kind of proper line.

To the southeast, some Russians assault groups from Novohrodivka have reportedly started moving into the southern side of the pocket, working on clearing out Lysivka and Sukhyi Yar. These are the isolated areas that Ukraine has struggled to withdraw from due to Russian drone dominance and physically controlling most of Pokrovsk, so there are a number of soldiers in the fortifications and villages that have gotten stuck.

Heading to the Pokrovske front, Russia has further improved its positions around Yehorivka, taking over several fields south and north of the village. Currently their focus is on Danylivka (red dot left of @) but they are also trying to see if they can flank the village by going through the fields.

Further south on the Hulyaipole front, other Russians troops have done similar to the above, improving their control of the fields and treelines around Novouspenivske. No assaults on that village or Nove have been recorded yet, but they are definitely preparing to do so by bombarding the area and targeting Ukrainian movements.

Swinging back up north, in the Kharkiv Border area Russia has continued to squeeze the small pocket around Dvorichanske, moving from the south to capture the farms and fortifications outside Kamyanka. They are now squeezing the pocket from both the north and south, so the relatively few Ukrainian troops in this area will likely be forced out in the coming days/weeks.

Back to the Lyman front, Russian assault operations in Stavky are ongoing, with their troops able to slightly improve their positions in the village over the past few days.

Down to the Kostyantynivka front, clashes are ongoing on the outskirts of Ivanopillya, with some Russian troops managing to capture a few more treelines and enter the town from the east side. The settlement is key to Ukraine’s defence of Kostyantynivka as it’s loss would give Russia an additional route with ample cover into the city, speeding up their assault.

Back to the Pokrovsk front, this time the northeast side where both Ukraine and Russia have been launching attacks. Ukrainian assault groups from Bilytske and Zatyshok have been trying to push further east into Nykanorivka and Fedorivka, aiming to isolate the Russian positions further north.

At the same time the Russians counterattacked from the south and recaptured the southern houses of Zatyshok, where fighting is ongoing. Like the previous Ukrainian attempts back in early October the fighting in incredibly messy with both sides bombing the treelines and targeting reinforcements, so movement by any soldier here is difficult.

Moving onto the Novopavlivka front, due to Russian advances around Filiya the previous week Ukrainian troops near Dachne found themselves in a small pocket. Russian forces from the east and south (Dachne) have begun pressuring the pocket, forcing Ukraine to abandon the treelines in this area and withdraw back into Novopavlivka. It will be interesting to see how this front develops as Novopavlivka is relatively important to both sides but there aren’t many units in this area (especially compared to Pokrovsk just northeast of here).

Following on from picture 6, the Russian assault on Uspenivka is ongoing, with their troops in control of about 40% of the small town. Uspenivka will last longer other settlements on this front, but will almost certainly still fall as Ukraine just isn’t able to put up much resistance here.

Heading all the way up to the northern front, Russian troops have made some smaller advances north of the Vovcha River, moving east as they slowly clear Ukrainian positions in the area.

Within Vovchansk, fighting is ongoing over the southern industrial area, the last Ukrainian stronghold in the town.

Following on from picture 7, Russian troops from Bolohivka have captured several treelines and fields on the northern side of the pocket, as Ukraine pulls back to Dvorichanske to try hold.

Following on from picture 1, Ukraine has launched more counterattack northwest of Kupyansk, managing to capture a small forest area and some treelines west of Radkivka (above the y). That village, along with Moskovka and Sobolivka are all in the greyzone, with neither side having a permanent presence there.

Despite Ukrainian claims, they have not reached the Oskil River with their attacks in this area despite over 2 months of attempts. So we now have another race, where Ukraine is trying to push into Russian lines and cut off the forces in western Kupyansk before Russia can capture eastern Kupyansk (which would give them another supply route Ukraine can’t cut off).

Over on the northern side of the Chasiv Yar front, there have been some minor movements over the past few weeks, with Russia slightly improving its position near Orikhovo-Vasylivka (below the a) and the canal, as well as entering Vasyukivka (above the p) again. Russia has been in Vasyukivka several times before, but each time they have withdrawn a day or two later due to a lack of troops (this front is simply of low importance to both sides, so few units here). Unless something has changed this month the same will likely happen again.

Following on from picture 4, over the past 2 days the Russians have further cleared the last parts of Pokrovsk, taking over a chunk of the remaining northern suburbs, as well as moving into the highrise district on the northeast side of the city (where some Ukrainian soldiers are still stuck.

The Russians have also been pressuring Hryshyne, bombarding the area for over a week now and trying to get closer to the town. This is where most of the surviving Ukrainian troops have fled to and where they are trying to set up the new defence line, so they are likely trying to destabilise that now rather than wait for the cities to fall.

To the east, the Russian assault groups in Myrnohrad have made a little bit of progress on the south side, but Ukraine is still present throughout the city and is in a better shape than in Pokrovsk. The problem is that even if Ukraine could mostly hold Myrnohrad they will be encircled if Pokrovsk is captured.

That leaves us with the increasingly shrinking neck of the pocket to the north. It is currently the only way out for the Ukrainian forces in the remainder of eastern Pokrovsk, Myrnohrad, and the surrounding villages and fortifications. The issue is this route is practically suicide at this point, with vehicles unable to get anywhere close and those who travel on foot being picked off by drones, mortars or artillery. The gap between Russian positions south of Rodynske and on the northern edge of Pokrovsk is only 2.8km wide, but that only has a 2 or 3 viable treelines to use as cover. It is not a surprise that we are already seeing some soldiers surrendering, but more will follow.

On top of all this, Russian DRGs have been moving towards the farms south and south west of Rodynske, shrinking the gap even further. Whilst the pocket is operationally encircled, we are extremely close to seeing a proper physical encirclement for the first time in several years, which would trap hundreds of Ukrainians in Myrnohrad with no way out and little chance of being rescued.