Oleksandrivsky and Novopavlivsky Directions.
The enemy (Russian forces) in the zones of their 29th and 36th Combined Arms Armies (CAA) of the “Vostok” military group continues active defense to stop the advance of the forward units and divisions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) in the general southeastern direction. As of last night, the Russian command apparently has not been able to fully solve this task.
Compared to our previous review on this direction, the AFU has managed to achieve certain tactical results, advancing on several tactical locations and directions. In turn, the enemy tried persistently to hold its forward positions and actively counterattacked in certain areas, to prevent further advancement of the AFU’s forward units in the aforementioned armies’ zones, and if possible, to restore previously achieved positions of its forward units and divisions.
1. Novopavlivsky Direction
Ukrainian troops continued offensive actions north and south of road N-15 Zaporizhzhia — Donetsk in the directions of Zaporizhzhia (village) — Novoukrajinka, Myrne — Komar, as well as Maliivka — Burlatske. Despite the enemy’s stubborn resistance, they managed to advance in several areas, in particular:
– In the direction of Zaporizhzhia (village) — Novoukrajinka, the AFU was able not only to liberate Zaporizhzhia (village) but also to advance more than 2 km east of it and, moving along the southern bank of the Vovcha River, reached a distance of 1.5-1.7 km from the village of Dachne.
However, the enemy tries to hold positions in this direction north of the Vovcha River, quite actively counterattacking towards Dachne — Filiya, while managing to hold positions in the area of the village of Filiya and southeast of it. Nonetheless, the advancement of Ukrainian units north of this section (towards Novopavlivka — Orihove), and most importantly, their expulsion of Russian infantry groups from the area of the confluence of the Vovcha and Mokri Yaly rivers, has greatly complicated the command of the Russian 29th CAA in maintaining its forward positions throughout this area (Filiya — Dachne — Novoukrajinka — Zaporizhzhia (village)).
Moreover, if the forward units of the AFU continue to advance west of Zaporizhzhia (village) towards Novoukrajinka, the situation for the Russian units, actively defending in the area of the village of Dachne north of the Vovcha River, will become even more critical.
– Fierce battles continue south of road N-15 Zaporizhzhia — Donetsk, where the enemy tries to hold positions along the Mokri Yaly River in the section of Perebudova — Dniproenerhiya and a more or less significant foothold west of it.
In this context, the situation for the enemy is complicated by the fact that Ukrainian forces have already managed to cross the Mokri Yaly River in its lower course, that is, north of the Zaporizhzhia – Donetsk road, and push westward, which in turn allowed them to directly reach the northern outskirts of the village of Perebudova (their forward positions north of the village are 600 meters away, already BEYOND the Mokri Yaly River).
Moreover, advancing towards Piddubne — Perebudova, the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) also reached positions located close to the village but on the opposite bank of the Mokri Yaly River. Additionally, in the direction of Myrne — Komar, Ukrainian units on the western bank of the Mokri Yaly River also covered a distance of 1-1.5 km. Effectively, the AFU HAVE ALREADY engaged in battles for the liberation of both these villages (Perebudova and Komar).
– In turn, the possibility I previously wrote about is gradually acquiring practical characteristics — the exit of Ukrainian forces into the Shevchenko — Burlatske — Pryvilne — Vilne Pole area, from where they can conduct effective fire damage in the Vremivka and Velyka Novosilka area, blocking the northern supply route of the center and left flank of the “Vostok” task force.
In this sense, the AFU continued active offensive actions in the general direction of Maliivka — Burlatske, advancing 7.5-8 km over a month and a half of fierce battles, including 1.5-2 km eastward from the village of Shevchenko over the last 20 days.
Thus, it can be claimed that Ukrainian forces, though quite gradually and slowly, continue to reduce the territory west of the Mokri Yaly River in the Perebudova — Dniproenerhiya sector, which is still controlled by Russian forces. Currently, the maximum depth of this area (the section west of the village of Fedorivka) is only 4.7 km.
2. Oleksandrivsk Direction
Here (36th Army strip), the situation for Russian forces is more positive, as they have apparently managed, with the exception of a few sectors on the left flank of this army, to more or less stabilize the situation. Specifically:
– The AFU continued to consolidate southwest of Komyshuvakha (Ternove — Novohryhorivka — Zaporizke — Berezove area), but during the reporting period they made no progress towards Temyrivka or Komyshuvakha. Moreover, the enemy continues to hold a tactical salient in the Novomykolaivka — Kalynivske direction and even occasionally counterattacks from it towards Verbove and Stepove.
– In the Novohryhorivka — Novoivanivka direction, the enemy also continues to hold a tactical salient north of Novohryhorivka and from these positions also tries quite persistently to flank the Ukrainian units positioned south of Kalynivske, mainly operating with small assault groups. So far, the AFU are blocking these enemy counterattacks, but it significantly complicates their further advance towards Novomykolaivka and Obratne.
– In the neighboring sector, where the AFU tries to advance along the western and eastern banks of the Yanchur River towards Uspenivka, the situation for the enemy seems less stable. Ukrainian forces have advanced close to Uspenivka (although on the opposite bank of the Yanchur River), reaching the Pryvilne — Pavlivka line.
Additionally, on the opposite (western) bank of the Yanchur River, the AFU managed to push forward Russian units (up to 2 km) south of the village of Rybne, and also wedge into the enemy’s defenses 1.5-2 km west of the village of Solodke. It appears that the AFU have already engaged in battles for its liberation.
Thus, advancing south from the Krasnohirsk–Novohryhorivka line and towards Rybne–Solodke, the Armed Forces of Ukraine managed to create very clear prerequisites for their further advancement towards the village of Uspenivka on a relatively wide front (approximately up to 7 km).
However, in this context, it is worth noting that in the tactical rear of the forward Ukrainian units operating towards Uspenivka, small “residual” groups of enemy infantry (3-4 soldiers, sometimes up to 5-6) continue to be recorded. For instance, such groups are noted southwest of the villages Zlahoda and Rybne, in the area of Novohryhorivka. They are gradually being “cleansed,” but the Russian command continues to send new groups for covert “infiltration.” Evidently, this is an attempt to disorganize the offensive actions of the forward units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine or at least significantly slow them down. Because if there is a sufficiently massive “infiltration” of such groups into their battle formations, they are forced to focus more on catching these “infiltration” groups in their tactical rear, rather than participating in coordinated and concentrated offensive actions.
In this sense, the situation for the Armed Forces of Ukraine becomes even more complicated when such groups become “critically” numerous and start to actively operate — attacking and shelling supply and evacuation routes in the tactical rear of the forward Ukrainian units, their UAV group positions, strong points, command posts, etc.
So, let’s summarize.
As we can see, the pace of the Ukrainian offensive in the operational zone of the Russian “Vostok” group (bands of the 36th and 29th Army Corps) has significantly decreased during the reporting period. In some areas and directions, it has completely stopped. However, in this context, it is worth noting that at the same time in several areas, primarily those that have a clear prospect of growing to operational-tactical significance, it continues, although very slowly. This primarily concerns the area south of the Zaporizhzhia–Donetsk road, along the Mokri Yaly River, and towards Uspenivka.
And this is entirely understandable. The further advance of Ukrainian forces south along the Yanchur River and their liberation of Uspenivka is quite capable of creating difficulties on the left flank of the Russian 5th Army Corps, attempting to advance north of Hulyaipole towards Orikhiv. And further “collapse” of the Russian defense along the Mokri Yaly River can generally disrupt operational interaction between the Russian “Vostok” and “Center” groups.
However, for the further development of the situation in the entire Southern strategic operational zone (i.e., at the operational-strategic level), not only is the situation on the right flank of the Russian “Vostok” group important, but also the events unfolding on the Orikhiv-Zaporizhzhia and Hulyaipole directions. We will review these in several upcoming analyses.
Photo: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine
