HUGE SUCCESS: Ukraine advances by 745 km² and liberates 26 towns

Today, Ukraine revealed the results of one of its largest sustained counteroffensive operations in recent months, as President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that Ukrainian forces successfully advanced along the Oleksandrivka axis, liberating seven-hundred-forty-five square kilometers and twenty-six settlements across the Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, and Zaporizhia regions. According to Ukrainian officials, Russian losses exceeded nine-thousand-five-hundred killed and more than six-thousand-six-hundred wounded, while additional enemy troops were captured.

The offensive was not a sudden breakthrough achieved in a few days but the cumulative result of more than six months of continuous pressure. Ukrainian assault units liberated twenty-six settlements, and engineers subsequently cleared over three hundred square kilometers of rear areas where Russian infiltration groups had previously established themselves. The operation continues as Ukrainian units consolidate gains and expand their bridgeheads, with results revealed with a delay for operational security reasons.

One of the most significant advances unfolded around Komar, where, after liberating settlements farther west and completely clearing Novokhatske, Ukrainian forces approached Komar from two directions. Rather than launching a direct assault, they first weakened Russian defenses through carefully coordinated strikes. A Ukrainian Mig-Twenty-Nine dropped Gbu-Thirty-Nine precision bombs on a Russian stronghold storing ammunition inside the village, while bomber drones destroyed a loaded Russian Uragan multiple-launch rocket system moving toward its firing position. The launcher erupted in flames before its rockets detonated, firing wildly from the tubes. Only after suppressing Russian firepower did Ukrainian special forces move in from the west. They isolated the settlement, maintained constant drone surveillance, and systematically cleared the remaining enemy positions. Russian soldiers who refused the offer to surrender and opened fire were killed, while others were captured. Russian footage later showed their artillery shelling Komar itself, unintentionally confirming that the village had already fallen under Ukrainian control.

Farther south, Ukraine is steadily tightening pressure on Uspenivka, a larger settlement Russia captured almost a year ago. Ukrainian troops are advancing simultaneously from the west through Solodke and from the north using recently liberated settlements as staging areas. Russian footage shows artillery firing toward Ukrainian approaches outside Solodke, demonstrating that fighting has already reached the outskirts. At the same time, Ukrainian forces have infiltrated behind Russian positions north of Uspenivka, threatening the main logistical road supplying defenders by putting it under fire control.  Numerous rivers and the limited number of settlements make Russian supply difficult, forcing reinforcements onto predictable routes vulnerable to Ukrainian fire. Supporting the offensive, a Ukrainian Mig-Twenty-Nine delivered another precision strike against the drone command post of Russia's Thirty-Sixth Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade, further disrupting Russian battlefield coordination.

At the same time, the central area of the sector illustrates how deteriorating Russian logistics are increasingly shaping the battlefield. Ukrainian advances pushed Russian troops beyond the river, while many remaining infiltration groups found themselves effectively abandoned by the Russian command. Instead of restoring the situation, Russian forces increasingly relied on symbolic videos showing flags planted in ruined settlements. Meanwhile, Ukrainian troops continued infiltrating weakened positions, while Russian infantry now reportedly walks between five and ten kilometers along exposed roads simply to reach frontline villages before trying to consolidate for assaults. Heavy destruction across settlements leaves virtually no protected assembly areas, preventing Russia from concentrating forces for meaningful offensive operations.

Overall, the clearest indication of Russia's deteriorating position is that even Russian military analysts have begun acknowledging Ukrainian advances on this axis. Despite continuing to order repeated assaults, Russian commanders are sending infantry across two rivers and three ditches into heavily observed terrain where attacks have failed for weeks. The Oleksandrivka operation demonstrates that while Russia continues issuing offensive orders, Ukrainian forces are increasingly dictating events on the battlefield, steadily pushing Russian troops backward while exploiting growing weaknesses in Russian logistics, coordination, and command.