RU POV: Russian and Ukrainian advances from Day 1396 and 1397 of the War - Suriyakmaps

Starting on the Sumy front, over the past week a small number of Russian troops have slowly worked their way from Oleksiivka to Andriivka, managing to assault and capture about half of the village. As most of you are aware fighting on this front has been incredibly slow and static for about 6 months now, so whilst Russia may capture Andriivka it will take some time and not lead to any major shift in events on this front, just more of the same fighting.

Onto a region we haven’t visited in a long time, we’re in the Sumy border area southeast of Sumy city, where over the span of 2 days a few Russian groups crossed the international border. These assault groups took control of the villages of Vysoke (above the y) and Hrabovske (bellow the r), before some forward groups pushed west towards the village of Ryasne. The Russians reportedly evacuated a number of civilians from these border villages, who had refused to leave earlier when Ukraine issued evacuation orders. There are also some claims that this part of the border was being held by a unit recently rotated away from a ‘hot’ front to rest, and that they neglected it’s defence, leading to the Russians easily walking in.

To be clear, this is not a new Russian offensive or front, like occurred with the Russian northern offensive in May 2024. This is a much smaller grouping of Russian troops harassing the Ukrainian border region in order to provoke a response that diverts Ukrainian troops away from key fights and allows Russia to hit them when they try counterattack. In this way it is similar to the Russian crossings in Sotnytskyi Kozachok, Nekhoteevka, and Dehtyarne (all Kharkiv Oblast) and up around Murvai (northern Chernihiv Oblast). We may see another smaller crossing or this one being pushed a little further, but don’t expect any offensive or larger Russian advance.

Moving over to the Kupyansk front, on the west side of the town Ukraine continues to make progress in their counterattacks, recapturing more houses to the south and some apartment blocks to the north of the central area. Russia is still conducting its withdrawal across the river, whilst trying to delay the Ukrainian advance with heavy drone usage (video 1, video 2, video 3).

Out east, Ukraine launched a series a counterattacks over the past week, managing to drive the Russians out of central Petropavlivka. Heavy clashes are ongoing over the remaining parts, as Russia tries to regain control.

Heading to the Siversk front, on the northwest side, the Russian assault on Zakitne is ongoing, with their troops making a little bit of progress in the eastern houses.

To the southeast, Russian forces are intensifying their attacks on Riznykivka, capturing more of the hills and fortifications above the village, as well as pushing through the fields to the north.

South on the same front, Russia has also been ramping up their attacks across this area. On the northeast side, a Russian group has moved out from the small village of Kuzmynivka and is beginning to try clear the nearby treelines as Ukraine has been forced to pull back its forces following the loss of Siversk.

To the southwest, after a week of smaller movements around the village, Russia has commenced their assault on Bondarne, using the treelines to the south to push in and capture the eastern houses. The pocket of Ukrainian territory to the south of this will certainly be abandoned in the coming hours, as the few troops inside pull back to avoid being encircled if Bondarne falls to Russia.

Onto the Kostyantynivka front, over the past 2 weeks Ukraine launched several counterattacks from the city, pushing the Russians out of the forest and Dachas to the east (undoing their progress from the 9th December). Ukraine is now trying to push back into Predtechyne yet again, but like the previous few it likely will not result in much progress.

Moving to the Pokrovsk front, north of the city, Russia slightly expanded the buffer around the dachas, capturing a couple of treelines nearby.

In Myrnohrad, Russian forces continue to cleanup the last remaining areas, moving building by building and capturing more of the central streets and industrial area. This puts Myrnohrad at 95% Russian control, with the remaining area being worked on now.

On another note, Ukraine also tried to launch a larger mechanised assault to break into Pokrovsk again, from the E50 highway on the northwest side. Whilst the Ukrainians claim to have successfully landed troops there, other footage shows many vehicles being destroyed (video 1, video 2), including an Abrams (first seen since midyear) and the infantry being picked off shortly after landing. Whilst not the first mechanised attack to try get back into Pokrovsk, it is notable as it’s the largest seen since November and also involved better equipment (Abrams, BMP-2s, modified T-64s), rather than cheaper APCs and MRAPs.

Over on the Novopavlivka front, positional battles have been ongoing in Ivanivka for the past 2 weeks, with Russia making minor progress on the west side. Neither Russia nor Ukraine has a solid grip on the village, so it’s a constant back and forth over each street as they try drive the other out.

Heading to the Hulyaipole front, within the town, Russian assault forces have made further progress, capturing more of the central streets and the first of the apartment blocks, as heavy clashes continue.

To the south, other Russian groups are clearing the fields adjacent to Hulyaipole now that Ukraine can no longer contest them, which should help them bring more troops into the town from the south.

To the north, a Ukrainian DRG managed to slip into Dobropillya for the third time, although the Russians are currently trying to wipe them out.

Following on from picture 4, Russia continues to advance around Riznyivka, with the earlier described push through the treelines north of the village now being confirmed as under Russian control.

To the southeast, the Russian groups clearing the area around Kuzmynivka have pushed further out, capturing a number of fields, treelines and hills. Whilst its not entirely clear, it looks like Ukraine is trying to pull out from this area and fall further back than expected, likely to try form a new line from Kalenyky down to Nykyforivka.

Following on from picture 5, after some more positional battles Russian forces were able to capture the remainder of Orikhovo-Vasylivka and capture a number of the adjacent treelines. This puts them in a position to assalt the village of Minkivka, which will help them work their way north beside the canal and clean up the remainder of the Siversk front.

South of Kostyantynivka, Russia secured more of the forest and fields north of the Kleban-Byk Reservoir over the past week.

Over on the Pokrovske front, over the past few days the Russian assault on Andriivka has sped up, with their forces making their way deeper into the village and capturing the remaining houses on the southern side. The rest will likely not hold long as the loss of the bridge on the west side means Ukraine cannot easily bring troops into Andriivka, as there are no roads on the north side of the settlement.

Adjacent to this, the Russian DRGs mentioned in the last post been followed by proper assault groups, who have cleared and captured Harasymivka (below Bratske). If Russia can push onto capture Bratske they can further build on their bridgehead on the west side of the Haichur River, pushing out into areas with few fortifications.

Following on from picture 9, the Ukrainian DRG that infiltrated Dobropillya was wiped out, with Russian troops resecuring the area and also taking over several of the treelines to the north of the village. This should prevent further infiltrations into that village and allow Russia to focus on attacking Kosivtseve.

In Hulyaipole, clashes continue in the centre of the town with no confirmable changes.

Out on the Zaporizhia front, Russian troops have further expanded their control of the fields east of Stepnohirsk, with a couple of DRGs pushing even further. Ukraine is stuck defending Likyanivske (orange dot) and Pavlivka (blue dot), meaning a lot of this area is relatively undefending, allowing Russia to send DRGs further out.