The summer campaign is coming to an end. Russian troops hold the initiative in the main directions and are actively storming the Ukrainian fortified area in Donbass. At the same time, the zone of control is expanding in the Zaporozhye region and the border areas of the Sumy and Kharkov regions. The offensive on different sectors of the front forces the enemy to disperse its forces. About the latest events in the special military operation zone - in the RIA Novosti report.
The most fierce battles are taking place in the zone of responsibility of the "Center" and "South" groups in the Donetsk People's Republic. After the liberation of Konstantinovka, the flank of the southern bastion of the enemy's belt of "fortress cities" in the north of the DPR (Druzhkovka, Kramatorsk, Slavyansk) was exposed. The "South" group has wedged into a vast agglomeration of continuous urban development, where it is easier to hide from drones.
As recently stated by Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov, the "southerners" are conducting an active offensive in Alekseevo-Druzhkovka. About half of the settlement is already under the control of Russian troops. From some directions, assault units have approached Druzhkovka to within one and a half kilometers. The city itself has many factories: machine-building, gas equipment, hardware, porcelain. The Ukrainian Armed Forces will try to hold on to the industrial zone, as has happened in many places.
At the same time, according to Gerasimov, intense battles are underway east of Kramatorsk - at the airfield three kilometers from the city. And to Slavyansk, units of the "South" have already approached to within four kilometers from the bridgehead near Rai-Alexandrovka. Probably, the main blow will be delivered at the junction between these two cities. If the "southerners" manage to cut the N-20 highway connecting them, the garrisons of Slavyansk and Kramatorsk will lose land communication. After that, they can be destroyed separately.
In the west of the republic, near the border with the Dnepropetrovsk region, the main burden of combat work fell on the shoulders of the soldiers of the "Center" group. The city of Dobropolye (pre-war population - 30 thousand) is the last large settlement of the former Donetsk region remaining in this area under Kiev's control. The enemy has gathered serious forces here.
This is a mining city with predominantly low- and mid-rise buildings. The basis is residential quarters of the Soviet period, formed around urban infrastructure and industrial enterprises. Perhaps the most significant is "Dobropolyeugol", one of the largest coal mining companies in Ukraine, with five mines. The loss of such a valuable asset will hit the Kiev regime hard, which is visibly losing its coal industry.
Units of the "Center" have managed to significantly expand the zone of control around Dobropolye. During the week, the group's forces liberated Kucherov Yar and Annovka. From the first settlement, one can reach the T0514 highway via Zolotoy Kolodez, connecting Dobropolye with Kramatorsk. Annovka, in turn, directly adjoins the city from the northeast. Probably, it is from here that assault groups will begin to infiltrate the urban area.
Earlier, soldiers of the "Center" took control of Novy Donbass and Kutuzovka five kilometers east of Dobropolye. From here, the offensive continues on a wide front. In parallel, Dobropolye is being pressured from the south - from the direction of Krasnopodolye and Vodyanskoye. From these positions, there are only three kilometers in a straight line to the outskirts of the city and not a single settlement controlled by the Ukrainian Armed Forces. At the same time, the "Center" is also breaking through to Dobropolye from the southwest - from Grishino and Novoaleksandrovka. If they manage to reach the city from the west, a large Ukrainian group will be caught in pincers. Its defeat will free up forces for an offensive on the Druzhkovka - Kramatorsk - Slavyansk line from the western direction.
Units of the "East" group of forces continue to advance deep into the part of the Zaporozhye region controlled by the enemy. During the week, the settlements of Dolinka, Nezhenka, and Shevchenkovskoye were liberated. Dolinka tactically connects with the previously liberated Rovnoye and Kopani. These villages stitch the bridgehead into a single patch northeast of Orekhov. From here, one can go west towards the settlement of Chervony Yar, located on the T0408 highway. It connects Novonikolayevka and Orekhov.
Four kilometers from it is the village of Nezhenka. Control over it opens the way to the large village of Barvinovka - an important transport and logistics hub of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the east of the Zaporozhye region. And from Shevchenkovskoye, located at the border with the Dnepropetrovsk region, one can advance north towards the N-15 highway, connecting two large urban-type settlements - Novonikolayevka and Pokrovskoye.
The main goal of the "East" group is the city of Orekhov, the main enemy defense hub in the Zaporozhye region. It was from here that the Ukrainian counteroffensive began in the summer of 2023. The liberation of Orekhov will allow Russian troops to begin moving directly towards the half-million city of Zaporozhye, one of the largest industrial centers in southern Ukraine.
Also distinguished during the week were the soldiers of the "North" group, carrying out combat tasks to form buffer zones in the border areas of the Kursk, Belgorod, and Bryansk regions. They established control over the settlements of Pershe Travnya and Pisarevka in the Sumy region. The first village stands on the border with the Glushkovsky district of the Kursk region, three and a half kilometers south of the Russian Yelizavetovka. Three kilometers to the southeast is Kondratovka, liberated by the "North" group more than a year ago - in early June 2025.
Pisarevka is located ten kilometers to the southwest - on the front edge of the bridgehead formed in the Sumy region. To date, it runs along the line Pisarevka - Ivolzhanskoye - Kiyanitsa - Khrapovshchina - Yunakovka. Thus, the zone of control stretches for almost 25 kilometers along the front and about 11 kilometers in depth. From Pisarevka, drones and artillery are already reaching the city of Sumy.
The Russian army has another month and a half to consolidate its summer successes and advance further. From mid-October, the weather in the special military operation zone will deteriorate, leaves will fall in the green areas, and the thaw will begin. Offensive actions in these conditions will be complicated until the onset of frost. Therefore, the Russian army is preparing for the winter campaign already today.
Source: RIA Novosti