RU POV: Russian and Ukrainian advances from Day 1356 to 1358 of the War - Suriyakmaps

Starting off today on the Chasiv Yar front, one Russian group moved up the treelines north of the town and reached the edge of the village of Maiske. Whilst it is possible that they may try assault and capture it there is a high chance that nothing happens, as Russia has been outside of Maiske since earlier this year and has not made any attempt to capture it before. The village is mostly rubble due to shelling during the battle for Chasiv Yar and both sides are focused elsewhere, so they will only take it if they intend to restart operations here and push north.

Over to the northern side of the Pokrovsk front, east of Shakhove, Russian forces renewed their assault on the town, reaching the eastern houses during the bad weather on foot. We will have to wait and see if this attempt fares any differently to the last several.

To the southwest, Ukraine has been launching attacks from Zatyshok over the past week, managing to recapture the southern houses of the village (retaken by Russia a little over a week ago) and pushed into the farm nearby. There is a lot of back and forth in this area as Ukraine seeks to pressure the last remnants of the salient, which will continue for some time.

Adjacent to this, after a few weeks of attacks Ukraine has managed to push deeper into Rodynske, with intense clashes ongoing. As I said in a previous post, most of Rodynske should be classified as greyzone as both sides have soldiers all over the time and they are both bombing most sections of it. The last time such intense bombing of a settlement by both sides occurred was the first 2 months of the battle for Vovchansk, which levelled the centre of the town.

Heading to the Pokrovske and Hulyaipole fronts, on the north side, during the recent bad weather some Russian assault groups managed to push up the treelines east of Oleksiivka and secure a foothold in Orestopil. This advance is interesting as it indicates that Russia intends to make an assault on Velykomykhailivka, rather than leave it as a frontline town with the Vovcha River and some fields as a buffer whilst they push west. Russian troops could not hold Orestopil long term if Velykomykhailivka is held by Ukraine, so by setting themselves up in the village they are almost certainly preparing to use it as a springboard for a push into the town.

To the southwest, Russian assault groups quickly entered and captured the villages of Solodke and Nove, facing virtually no resistance as what few troops Ukraine had in this area were hit by drones or FABs and routed before the Russians even entered the settlements. Their DRGs have already moved on ahead, following the small road and reaching the outskirts of Rivnopillya and Yablukove, where some clashes occurred.

Following on from picture 2, Russia made further advances around Shakhove, this time on both the east and west sides of the town. If they can hold these positions it will force any remaining Ukrainian troops to retreat or risk being encircled, if there even are any troops left after months of bombardment.

Moving onto Pokrovsk and Myrnohrad, west of the former, Russian assault groups started pushing out into the fields north of the railway during bad weather, taking over a wide strip from the edge of the city to northwest of Kotlyne. If they can clear the remaining fields out up to the E50 highway they will expand the angles from which to attack Hryshyne.

To the northeast, Russia slightly expanded it’s foothold in eastern Myrnohrad, as the pocket continues to shrink. The encircled Ukrainians are mostly held up in the central industrial area or blocks of apartment buildings scattered around the town, which are all being bombarded. Ukraine did try to assault back into Pokrovsk once again to see if they could break the encirclement, but their vehicles have been getting hit before they can get close to the cities (video 1, video 2).

South of Myrnohrad, following their earlier movements Russia advanced into the remaining section of Lysivka and captured the village, bringing the battle to a close after almost a year. With drone operators pushed further away due to advances to the north and any remaining Ukrainian troops isolated for months it fell quite quickly. They are now working on Sukhyi Yar, which will likely be captured in the next day or two.

Over on the Novopavlivka front, Russian troops slightly improved their positions next to the town itself, capturing another treeline south of it.

Out west, Russia recaptured the western houses of Ivanivka following a Ukrainian attack and moved into the adjacent forest area. From here they can try assault Havrylivka, although it will be quite difficult due to a lack of cover between the forest area and the town.

Following on from picture 3, to the north, with Russia already set up in Orestopil the fields and treelines between it and Oleksiivka quickly came under their control.

To the south, hot off the heels of their last capture, Russian assault groups pushed south from Nove and secured the settlement of Novouspenivske as well as the large fortifications immediately to its north. Adjacent to this, other Russian assault groups moved up and captured a large area of fields and treelines, reaching Rivnopillya and Yablukove. Similar to previous settlements on this front, after being bombed and droned what few Ukrainian troops were in the area fled west, so Russia will capture both of these shortly.

Swinging up to the Lyman front, after another week of clashes Suriyak has updated the map to show Russia in control of a little more of northern Yampil and with a larger greyzone in the centre. As I said in a previous post, most of Yampil is either unoccupied or with mixed control, so a large greyzone has formed there where neither side can get a firm grip on the area.

Following on from picture 1, since early November Russia has been making some smaller movements north of Chasiv Yar, capturing some treelines around Novomarkove and Markove. For now no assault has taken place in either village, but it seems like the Russians may be considering it.

Down to Kostyantynivka, the Russian troops on the edge of the city have slightly expanded their control, taking over more houses and moving south along the outskirts rather than pushing further in. This complicates things for Ukraine as they are now moving into the reach of Ivanopillya, where clashes are taking place. If Ukraine can’t stop these Russian troops they may be forced to withdraw from Ivanopillya (due to being cut off and attacked from behind), which will give the Russians another route into the city.

Following on from picture 4, Ukrainian troops made a small advance west of Shakhove, threatening to cut the Russian forces in the west side of the town. We now have another (smaller) race on our hands where Ukraine is trying to encircle the Russian assault groups in western Shakhove before they link up with the forces to the east and either encircle or capture the town.

Following on from picture 5, west of Pokrovsk Russian assault groups advanced again through the fields capturing one of the trench networks.

To the east, Russian troops captured some more of the last buildings in Pokrovsk and moved slightly further into Rivne. During the terrible weather they used the fog to bring more troops and supplies into the city, attempting to get it properly set up as a forward base and for future assaults.

Suriyak has also increased the greyzone in several areas due to a loss of Ukrainian control and possible further Russian advances into Myrnohrad. It was around this time that a medium size group of Ukrainian troops surrendered, reportedly from the southern side of the city.

On the newly created Mezhova front (now that Russia has entered Dnipro Oblast from another area), Russian assault groups from Molodetske pushed west along the railway and entered the village of Novopidhorodne, where they established a small foothold. From what information we have there are not many Russian troops in this area (hence lack of progress for some time) so we will have to see if this force can take the settlement or if they need to wait for more support.

Following on from picture 7, Russian assault groups continued their quick advance in this area, capturing another large area of fields, treelines and fortifications, as well as taking over the villages of Rivnopillya and Yablukove. This now means that Russian troops have a direct route to Hulyaipole and can push straight to the town, if they do not chose to advance elsewhere first. Depending on how badly disorganised and damaged Ukraine’s units are in this area, as well as whether their high command send reinforcements, the battle for Hulyaipole could start within a week.

Southeast, other Russian groups also captured an area of fields and treelines east of Vysoke and Zelenyi Hai. They have not made an assault attempt on these yet, but it is only a matter of time, if Ukraine does not withdraw from them first.