Comprehensive Battlefront Breakdown: A Strategic Look at Every Front

Today, we will discuss the most interesting developments along the front line, focusing on the Toretsk, Kostiantynivka, and Pokrovsk regions.

In the Toretsk direction, Ukrainian forces continue to offer fierce and organized resistance amid some of the most brutal urban combat witnessed in the war so far. The town remains under constant Ukrainian drone surveillance, artillery fire, and mechanized raids with troops, with dozens of geolocated videos confirming the destruction of Russian footholds and infantry formations. Despite suffering staggering losses, Russian forces have committed what appears to be the bulk, if not the entirety, of their summer offensive reserves dedicated to this sector to overrun the Ukrainian defense lines.

The scale of the assault, combined with the unrelenting pace, suggests that Russia is willing to accept extremely high attrition to claim even a symbolic victory.

Ukrainian commanders recently attempted a mechanized push to reclaim partial control over the town center. The assault briefly succeeded in deploying infantry under cover but was eventually repelled by a swift Russian response using a mass of drones and artillery. The nature and losses of the operation drew criticism within the Ukrainian information space and among analysts, as such Russian-style convoy assault tactics are rarely used by Ukrainian forces due to their limited payoff and near certainty for massive casualties.

Nevertheless, combat rages on. The battlefield, composed of ruined buildings, open lines of sight, and the skies and streets saturated with drones, offers no shelter. Russia may still burn through all its reserves in the area to take the town, but at the cost of thousands of lives, and of a prize already reduced to rubble.

Switching to the Kostiantynivka sector, the situation is becoming increasingly dangerous as Russian forces intensify their operations southwest of the city. With advances into Oleksandropil and movement toward Novoolenivka, a new axis of threat is emerging. Should the Russians continue their advance along the Pokrovsk–Kostiantynivka highway, it would place the town under immense pressure from the west. This would also pressure the rear and supply line of Ukrainian forces fighting at Toretsk, possibly allowing for a Russian breakout there; making this a secondary goal of the Russian efforts.

While there have been no confirmed Russian infiltration attempts into Kostiantynivka itself, the city has become a priority target for Russian strikes. Russian forces have increased the use of fiber-optic FPV drones, which are effective for precision targeting and bypassing electronic warfare defenses. These drones, along with constant artillery shelling and glide bomb strikes, now intensely target anything moving in and around Kostiantynivka, especially along vital logistical corridors; however also causing a sharply increasing number of civilian casualties. Though militarily, these strikes are intended to cripple Ukraine’s support infrastructure and break the defensive network surrounding the city.

Shifting the focus to the Pokrovsk sector, this axis remains one of the most active and fiercely contested. With the Russian western pincer maneuver neutralized, a new threat is also on the rise in the east. Building off their advances toward Kostiantynivka, Russian forces recently started moving westward towards Pokrovsk and Myrnohrad with the goal of putting Ukrainian defenders there under more pressure and endangering their ground communication lines.  

Active fighting continues in Malynivka, where Russian forces are trying to establish a foothold and maneuver around Ukrainian positions near a key road junction. This push could enable broader operations aimed at compromising supply routes to Pokrovsk and Myrnohrad. As the Ukrainians are aware of the implications that a Russian breakthrough here can cause for the defense of Pokrovsk, they are currently sending units to prevent Malynivka from being captured and used as a stepping stone for further advance.

Despite earlier failures on the western flank, where mass Russian assaults resulted in staggering losses and near-total depletion of armored reserves, the Russian high command is attempting to shift the balance eastward, taking advantage of recent advances between Pokrovsk and Kostiantynivka. 

Overall, at Toretsk, the Ukrainians continue to fight fiercely throughout the town, but the Russians have made slow progress over the past months of fighting; however, possibly sacrificing a critical axis in their summer offensive campaign.

Meanwhile, southwest of Kostiantynivka, the Russians have made relatively rapid gains, threatening a large part of the Ukrainian defense, though the Russians have not achieved a decisive breakthrough, rather making steady progress over the past 2 weeks.

Near Pokrovsk, the advance towards Kostiantynivka creates a new threat for the Ukrainian hub from the east; however, with Ukrainian troops already moving to respond, it remains to be seen if Russians can generate game-changing results. 

‍