UA POV: Russian and Ukrainian advances from Day 896 to 897 of the War - Suriyakmaps

Ukraine’s Incursion into Kursk Oblast continued at high speed as we headed into the end of the third day (Thursday). In the north Ukrainian motorised groups expanded their control outwards towards Korenevo (just off map at the top). The initial Ukrainian forces that tried to enter the town, as shown in the previous update, were repelled by Russian border guards units, forcing them to retreat back along the main road. Russian forces have set up a makeshift defensive line outside Korenevo, as the try to halt the Ukrainian advance.

One the eastern side, Ukrainian troops captured a number of settlements north of Sudzha, with advance groups heading all the way over up to Malaya Loknya, and out east towards Martynovka. Similar to what happened with Korenevo, the Ukrainian advance teams mentioned in the previous update, heading far north to sow confusion, were spotted and progressively wiped out by Russian long range assets, as can be seen in this video. As of the end of the third day, Ukrainian advance groups, and the first Russian reinforcements are clashing near Malaya Loknya (north) and Martynovka (east), as the Ukrainian units try continue their advances.

Following on from my previous update, Russian troops entered Pereizne and captured the first street on the south side, marking the start of the battle for the village. For now, both Ukraine and Russia look to only have a few small groups of infantry in the area, as the village is quite open, and there is not as much cover as on other fronts.

Around Lozuvatske, geolocated footage confirmed Russian infantry had captured another field and trenchline, slowly moving towards Vozdvyzhenka.

Back onto the Kursk front for an update on the situation from early afternoon (Friday). The first of the Russian reinforcements has arrived in the area, and begun to counterattack. On the north side near Korenevo, Ukrainian forces near the main road were pushed back towards the villages around the Reka Snagost and Reka Zorka Rivers.

To the Northeast, Russian forces, having defeated the DRGs that had pushed along the main road to the north, recaptured part of Malaya Loknya and the adjacent villages. Clashes are currently ongoing with Ukrainian advance forces, who are trying to maintain their positions in the village.

To the east, Russian counterattacks drove Ukrainian forces back to the riverline. Ukraine will likely try attack in this area again, as cutting off the main road into Sudzha is critical if they want to try take the town. There are also some smaller clashes within Sudzha itself, however the situation is extremely murky, and too difficult to tell who controls what.

There are some important notes regarding the situation in Kursk that I’ll add in a comment below, to help explain the battlefield situation and how it will develop.

Following on from the previous update, Russian forces continued to advance near Hrodivka, capturing another section of Ivanivka (under the u), and capturing a large portion of the fields north of Serhiivka. As I mentioned last time, Russian sources have claimed that their troops have already entered Hrodivka. Whilst I can’t confirm this yet, its certainly not out of the question as they have been confirmed to be only 200m from the first buildings of the town.

There is a small Ukrainian trench network just to the west of the westernmost point of this advance (northwest of Sehriivka) that the Russians have stopped outside of. If they can capture it, they will be able to take over the fields and assault Zhuravka and Orlivka, opening more options for their eventual assault on Hrodivka.

Russian forces were confirmed to have recaptured the northern houses of Nevelske. Russia originally captured the village towards the start of the year, but Ukraine counterattacked and retook the warehouse area.

In Niu-York, Ukraine continued their counterattacks in the centre of the town, recapturing part of the residential area. At the same time, Russian assaults groups drove Ukraine out from the southwestern fields, and a part of the westerns suburbs. The back and forth in the centre of the town is likely to continue for some time, whilst Russia slowly clears the outermost fields and houses.