RU POV: Russian and Ukrainian advances from Day 1434 to 1440 of the War - Suriyakmaps

Starting off this wrap-up of the past week, we’re back in the Sumy border area. Russia continued their low level operations in the forest along the border, taking over a chunk of it to the east of the recently captured Komarivka. If you see Bila Bereza mentioned, just know its not actually a settlement but where one used to be, so there are no houses here aside from one farm just outside the forest.

Staying in the Sumy border area, but this time on the opposite side of the Sumy front, Russian forces have opened up another minor crossing into Ukraine, this time moving from Grayvoron into the forest that straddles the international border, before a few troops pushed into the village of Lukashivka. This is the first proper movement across the border since early 2024 (when Ukraine launched an incursion into Belgorod), however there has been the occasional border skirmish as happens in many areas.

Like with the advance around Komarivka (see picture 1), Russia is probing parts of the Sumy border and trying to force Ukraine to respond, sending some troops to try push Russia out or at least bolster the defenders, so Russia can advance elsewhere. So far this does not look to have worked, although it is obviously difficult for me to judge as I do not have specific details about Ukrainian force distribution here. I also have to wonder if these crossings are a prelude to a larger push, either on the existing Sumy front or in a new spot.

Moving on over to the northern front, starting on the west side, Russia restarted activity over the border east of Lyptsi, taking over the village of Zelene. Like many border villages it was unoccupied, but the fact that Russia has advanced in this particular section (around Lyptsi) is notable as they have not done so since mid-2024.

To the east, Russia continued to assault Hrafske (under the m) and Symynivka (under the a) simultaneously, capturing the remainder of the northern half of the former, whilst they captured the southern half and thus the remainder of the latter. From here the Russian troops in Symynivka will be looking to consolidate their control of the village, but will likely try push west to help with the capture of Hrafske.

To the northeast, Russian assault groups captured more of Vovchanski Khutory, now in control of about 80% of the village, whilst other groups further north took over part of the medium size forest area next to the border.

Over on the north side of the Kupyansk front, in a surprise move Russian assault groups pushed west of Dvorichna over the past week, capturing part of the forest area and started to infiltrate Kutkivka. This has occurred with little fanfare and attention, as the focus for both sides has been on the fighting in and around Kupyansk for over 6 months now. This is also why it is surprising, as Russia previously halted movements in this area to focus on Kupyansk, so restarting operations, even at their current low level, may indicate they are trying start a push in a new area.

Down south on the same front, the fighting in and around Kupyansk has somehow grown even more chaotic. Starting with the northwest side, with no new information about the Russian DRG that moved into Moskovka a couple of weeks back, Suriyak has decided to remark the treelines and northern houses of the village as back under Ukrainian control.

Adjacent to this, Russian forces have slowly reestablished control of the treelines and gas compressor station west of Holubivka, as well as the northernmost street of Kupyansk. This does reestablish the supply and reinforcement route into the western half of the town, so it is going to be much harder for Ukraine to dig them out of there without cutting it off again.

Out east, off the back of their success from the days prior, Russian assault groups continued to expand their control of Petropavlivka, capturing the centre of the town as well as managing to cross the Hnylytsya River and taking over one of the southern streets. Things are quite messy here as whilst Russia claims to control Petropavlivka there are reportedly still some Ukrainian soldiers in the eastern side of the town, so they will have to be cleared out and Russian positions consolidated before they can truly claim to have captured it.

This brings us to the chaos happening south and southeast of Kupyansk. Earlier Russian Command claimed to have captured Podoly and Kupyansk-Vuzlovyi, which was obviously incorrect. However, since then several videos have been released showing that Russian troops are present in decent numbers throughout Podoly, with some troops even occupying positions inside Kupyansk-Vuzlovyi. This throws a massive spanner in the previous frontline as it puts Russian forces deep behind Ukrainian lines, not just DRGs but a number of small assault groups. I have been reading the occasional report claiming the Russians were pushing deep into Podoly starting in early January, slowly building up forces, but this was the first video confirmation that it was actually occurring. The Ukrainians for their part have claimed, as they always do, that all these groups were wiped out and that they retain full control, but demonstrably this is false and their lines are not nearly as strong as previously thought.

As for where that leaves us, Suriyak has chosen to mark most of this area as greyzone as its unclear how much control Russia actually exerts over these areas and whether Ukraine will recapture it. If they do it will skew the territorial numbers significantly, but on the other hand if Russia actually manages to flood the area with assault groups they could consolidate and split Ukraine’s forces up, with troops in Petropavlivka and Kucherivka isolated.

Down to the Lyman front, Russian troops made a minor advance east of the town, capturing more of the treelines right outside it.

Onto the Siversk front, Russian troops have moved into the hills south of Zakitne, trying to expand the buffer around the village.

Further south on the same front, Russia continues to assault Nykyforivka (top orange dot), whilst other groups have been pushing west into the fields, forcing Ukraine to withdraw back to Pryvillya.

Heading to the Kostyantynivka front, for a couple of days last dense fog and rain blanketed this area, leading to both Russian and Ukraine trying to infiltrate the other’s lines whilst drones were hindered. The only confirmed advance was a minor Russian push near Stupochky, but at least 1 Ukrainian squad tried to push back into Predtechyne, whilst other Russian groups trying to move into the forest east of the city and into the southern suburbs.

Onto the Dobropillya and Pokrovsk fronts, on the north side Russian assault groups have managed to capture most of Toretske after weeks of clashes, however the locality cannot be secured until the dense trench networks directly north of the village are taken.

To the southwest, Russia has been ramping up pressure on Novyi Donbas and Bilytse (both under the u), trying to break into the latter.

Further south, Ukraine managed to restablish a route into Sukhetske, but it is still incredibly fragile and the soldiers inside the village should have been withdrawn by now.

Moving to the Novopavlivka front, over the past week Russia has managed to secure most of the remaining treelines east of the town itself, with their troops now moving back in to recapture the eastern streets.

Over on the Hulyaipole front, on the north side, Russia managed to eliminate the majority of the Ukrainian DRGs and assault groups that had pushed into the area east of the Haichur River a few weeks back, reestablishing control over much of the greyzone. I do think Suriyak is being a bit pre-emptive here as some of these groups may remain, or others could try to slip through during the bad weather, but same as with Kupyansk for the Ukrainians we’ll just have to deal with the numbers being skewed later.

Adjacent to this, the Russian assault on Kosivtseve was successful, with their forces capturing the village. They then pushed on into Ternuvate, where they were able to take control over a chunk of the small town. There are a lot of conflicting reports on this one, with Russia claiming to control it completely, whilst Ukraine claims the same. As far as I am aware Ukraine retains some presence in the town, but how much and whether they will be able to hold is the question.

Further south, other Russian groups captured the village of Sviatopetrivka and are currently trying to secure a buffer around the locality.

Out on the Orikhiv front, Ukraine launched a series of counterattacks over the past 3 weeks, managing to retake the prison and parts of central Mala Tokmachka. The fighting here continues to be a slog with neither side able to hold areas long term.

Heading to the Zaporizhia front, on the northwest side, Russia has pushed further into the dachas north of Prymorske, whilst DRGs continued on further towards Richne.

To the southeast, whilst Russia captured Lukyanivske, Ukriane launched a counterattack from Mahdalynivka, attempting to push back into the village.

Out east, Russia captured the last houses in Pavlivka, confirming full control of the settlement. Fighting continues in Novoyakovlivka a little to the north.

Back to the Sumy border area, this time east of the city where one of the first border crossings occurred. Whilst no advances have been confirmed yet, over the past couple of days Russia has launched 2 new border crossings, one in the north into Pokrovka, whilst the other crossing further south into the treelines around Ryasne. Whilst both of these involve few troops, it is a continuation of the Sumy border crossings we’ve seen in the past month, which means they now have 8 minor breaches into the oblast, as well as the main Sumy front.

Following on from picture 8, Russian assault groups made decent progress in Nykyforivka**,** capturing about half of the village, as they push on into the northern section.

Following on from picture 9, Russia made another minor advance near Predtechyne, moving slightly west along the T0504 road as they try to cut off the Ukrainian group the pushed into the village.

Following on from picture 12, Russian forces managed to push in and capture most of Prydorozhnje, however have not fully cleared the village and have not yet consolidated their positions.