Ukrainian forces have recaptured some positions from Russia in the Kharkiv region, according to the Institute for the Study of War, whose latest maps outline some of the incremental gains made by both sides along the front line.
In May, Russian forces launched an offensive in the northeast of the region, capturing villages close to the border and gaining a foothold in the town of Vovchansk.
In its update on Friday, ISW, a Washington, D.C., think tank, said Ukrainian forces had advanced within the center of Vovchansk. It cited a Ukrainian drone battalion commander who said the situation in the north of the Kharkiv oblast had stabilized, and that Russian troops had not made any significant progress in the area for more than a fortnight.
New ISW maps show the latest state of play along the front line. One graphic of the terrain around Kharkiv indicates that Ukrainian troops advanced in northeastern Vovchansk on June 24, the same day they made gains in central Starytsya, further west.
Another map shows recent Ukrainian gains along the Kupyansk-Svatove-Kreminna line in the Luhansk oblast. These include recapturing lost positions south of the towns of Kreminna and east of Terny, where Ukraine reportedly advanced almost a mile.
The ISW also mentioned one Ukrainian source who claimed on June 26 that Russian forces may have lost almost the entire 83rd Airborne Brigade in the Kharkiv direction from casualties and troops refusing to fight, although the think tank said there was no evidence for this claim, which may have been exaggerated.
Newsweek has contacted the Russian Defense Ministry for comment by email.
A map of the terrain around the Donetsk region showed Russian advances east of Druzhba on June 24 and the capture of the settlement of Rozdolivka on Thursday.
Vadym Filashkin, Donetsk's regional governor, said on Saturday that Russian attacks on residential areas in the east of the oblast had killed four civilians and wounded six over the past day, with most of the casualties in the village of Niu-York, which is 3 miles from the front line.
Russia has recently stepped up its offensive on the nearby town of Toretsk, intensifying its attacks against civilians.
On Saturday, one civilian was killed, and two others were wounded during attacks by Russian forces on the other side of the Dnipro River in the Kherson region, further south, local authorities reported.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Brendan Cole is a Newsweek Senior News Reporter based in London, UK. His focus is Russia and Ukraine, in particular ... Read more
