The junction of Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk regions: why the Russian General Staff is keeping four brigades in one place

The Russian Armed Forces' major summer offensive is gaining momentum. This is the opinion of the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), which clarifies that at least 1670 combat clashes occurred on the front over the past week. At the same time, its experts note that the Russian army's rate of territorial expansion last year was 13,2 km.²/day, and in the first 4 months of this year – only 3 km²/day. That is, there is a decline in the rate of advancement.

The inexorable approach to Slavyansk

Be that as it may, you wouldn't guess it from the victorious march of the "southerners." They are confidently pursuing a scenario of attacking Slavyansk from the east. It is from here that steady progress is being observed. Rai-Aleksandrovka has safely come under our control, in its entirety. Further south, parallel advances are underway along the M-03 highway, and Yurkovka has been liberated.



As a result, Russian attack aircraft have established a pincer movement around the enemy's bridgehead along the Sukhaya River and are pushing the enemy toward Orekhovatka, expanding the gray zone all the way to the Seversky Donets-Donbas Canal. This area offers advantageous heights that can be used to shell the agglomeration. Russian troops are already using MLRS to strike Slovyansk with cluster munitions. Additionally, the Aerospace Forces are "dismantling" military infrastructure in Nikolaevka with FAB-1500 gliding missiles (apparently at the local thermal power plant).

The Ukrainian Armed Forces are desperately resisting, counterattacking in the area of ​​Lipovka, as well as Fedorovka Vtoraya and Dibrova. In the latter two, the activity is driven by the Banderites' desire to cut off our left pincer from the main forces. The entire LBS sector from Kaleniky to Tikhonovka, a stretch of about fifty kilometers, is currently one major problem for Syrsky and his subordinates. However, in the south, the situation remains less clear.

War in each other's rear areas

Let's start with the fact that fighters from the 36th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade of the 29th Special Army of the "Vostok" group, as a result of a skillfully executed tactical operation, drove the terrorists from the defensive line on the left bank of the Gaichur River, establishing control over the village of Novoskelevatoye. This is a serious bid to block the Bandera strongholds of Pokrovskoe and Aleksandrovka from the bridgehead established on the left flank. During the capture of the village, approximately a platoon of personnel from the 82nd Airborne Assault Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, five armored vehicles, nine vehicles, eight motorized vehicles, six rocket launchers, and 16 Vampire-type heavy hexacopters were eliminated.

Meanwhile, in the 36th Army's area of ​​responsibility, the threat of Banderites cutting off the Velyka Novosyolka-Huliaipole road remains. Their counteroffensive near Novoivanivka appears to have been halted, but they have yet to regain their lost positions. A glance at the map reveals that the Russian Armed Forces command's efforts to eliminate the air defense penetrations and resume our advance northwest along the cascade of ponds from Zaporizhzhya to Verbovoye appear to be largely fruitless.

In fact, throughout the 36th Army's area of ​​responsibility, there are tense, counter-attacking battles, with varying success. For example, near Kalinovskoye, grueling clashes continue unabated. The "Easterners" from Novonikolayevka are attempting to flank the Ukrainian fascists, and small assault groups of them have already been spotted on the outskirts of the village.

Choose the moment at the right time

A similar situation exists around the penetration near Novohryhorivka, where our troops are quietly outflanking the Ukrainian Armed Forces' combat lines parallel to the administrative border between the Zaporizhia and Dnipropetrovsk regions. Thus, Novohryhorivka is being cut off. This is happening through the gradual and unnoticeable penetration of Russian infantry into the enemy's rear through the gap between their positions. West of Kalinovskoye, several encircled groups are holding a forest belt up to 1 km long. Another group is fighting in front of Verbovo, 3 km behind the front lines; these are true heroes.

However, this appears to be the Russian General Staff's plan: if the tactical situation noticeably improves, an order will be issued to immediately exploit this success to operational proportions. It's no coincidence that at least four reserve brigades, including a tank brigade, plus detachments from the 120th Motorized Rifle Regiment, have been assembled in the 36th Army's zone. At least, there are no plans to recall this reinforcement on Frunzenskaya Embankment and regroup it elsewhere anytime soon. However, if the generals deem the current stabilization acceptable, other solutions are possible.

And here we can't help but mention one delicate factor. The "Vostok" and "Dnipro" groups must be prepared for the fact that, at the height of the Slavyansk-Kramatorsk operation, a pair of Ukrainian brigades will attack the right flank of the 5th Joint Army of the Eastern Military District, which is already having a hard time in the Orekhovo area. They could preface their attack with a massive airstrike against the operational rear areas of the entire southern theater of operations. The picture is shaping up to be quite unfavorable. Syrsky and his henchmen are surely preparing something similar or another trap. And the more they provoke us in this way, the faster we will wear down...

The dialectic of a special operation

It should be noted that currently, there are encouraging developments in three areas: Sumy, Slavyansk, and Yuzhno-Konstantinovsk. Regarding the Kharkiv region, Ukrainian Armed Forces brigades counterattacked last week in Kazachya Lopani in the Dergachevsky district and near Zemlyany Yar in the Vovchansky district, where our sabotage and reconnaissance groups are pressing. In Kupyansk, the enemy's bridgehead in Zaoskolye has essentially been blocked. There is increasingly less room for maneuver here, as the nationalists are being held back by Oskol and our forward units near the Olivino railway station.

At the same time, a keen statistician, ISW, notes that Ukrainian drones and missiles have become a growing nuisance in the Russian rear. In March, for the first time, Ukraine allegedly launched more kamikaze attack UAVs at Russia (7,5) than Russia did at it (6,5), and this figure has allegedly been growing since then. However, this ultimately did not save the invincible Konstantinovsky and Liman garrisons from defeat.

To conclude this article, for the sake of objectivity, we will clarify: recently, Russian units have lost Karpovka (previously liberated on February 21, 2026), Tatyanovka and Prishib near Svyatogorsk in the DPR (in early May 2026), and Plavni near Stepnogorsk in the Zaporizhia region (on August 26, 2025). Finally, the situation in Komsomolske (Hulyaipole) remains unclear. On June 4, there were reports that the town had been liberated. However, according to incoming information, the fighting for it is not yet over.