The battlefield Ukraine’s new commander-in-chief inherits as Russian troops push toward Ukraine’s main defensive stronghold in Donbas

Ukraine’s new commander-in-chief, Mykhailo Drapatyi, inherited a difficult situation on the front lines from his predecessor, Oleksandr Syrskyi. In the first half of the year, the Ukrainian army managed to hold back the Russian offensive in the northern part of Donbas, but in recent weeks Russian forces have accelerated their advance toward their main objective — the Kramatorsk and Sloviansk agglomeration. Ukraine’s own long-running offensive in eastern Zaporizhzhia Region, while it halted the Russian advance westward, has not achieved decisive results (though its new phase looks promising). The Ukrainian command must now decide whether to continue the attacks in the Zaporizhzhia region or divert forces to repel the Russian offensive in Donbas.Kostiantynivka and KramatorskUkrainian forces are still trying to hold Kostiantynivka, the southernmost point of the Kramatorsk agglomeration.Russian assault troops have been operating in every district of the city for several weeks, have reached its northern exit, and are working to clear Ukrainian forces from the central neighborhoods. But Ukrainian troops, reinforced by assault units from Syrskyi’s “personal guard” — the “Skala” regiment — are trying to delay the city’s full capture for as long as possible. The logic is simple: as long as fighting continues there, Russian forces can’t concentrate drone operators in the city to push their advance north toward Druzhkivka and Kramatorsk.Ukrainian forces are struggling most in eastern Kostiantynivka, on the right bank of the Kryvyi Torets River. Russian troops captured the ruins of a gasket factory on the riverbank in mid-July — a site that had previously supplied Ukrainian forces on that side of the city. Fighting there is likely still underway, including in the central district where the city’s administrative buildings are located, but no video evidence has emerged in two weeks to confirm Ukrainian positions.Ukrainian forces can still move assault troops into western Kostiantynivka, both from the north and from the western outskirts.In recent days, Russian forces have pushed several kilometers north of Kostiantynivka, reaching the southern outskirts of the next settlement, Oleksiivo-Druzhkivka.Holding those positions in Kostiantynivka may prove futile, though, since Russian forces have launched the second phase of their plan to capture the southern part of the Kramatorsk agglomeration: a deep envelopment of all the cities and towns south of Kramatorsk. Russian troops are advancing on Druzhkivka from the eastern flank and, over the past week, from the western flank as well, pushing into the rear of Ukrainian forces. The front in the Kazennyi Torets River valley northwest of Kostiantynivka had held stable for several months, but Russian forces have gone back on the offensive there, capturing the village of Toretske, 8 kilometers (5 miles) from Druzhkivka.Northeast of Kostiantynivka, Russian troops are pushing from the Siverskyi Donets–Donbas canal directly toward Kramatorsk, bypassing the main Ukrainian defensive line at Druzhkivka from the east. They have already reached the village of Vasyutynske, 7 kilometers (4 miles) from the outskirts of Kramatorsk.That offensive has forced Ukrainian forces — which had held positions on the outskirts of Chasiv Yar for two years — to begin withdrawing. Russian troops have at least managed to seize previously impregnable positions on the city’s western outskirts.None of this means the Russian army will break through to Kramatorsk and Sloviansk anytime soon and achieve the main objective of this stage of the war: capturing the rest of the Donbas. The Russian General Staff’s plan clearly calls for reaching the Kramatorsk agglomeration from multiple directions along a front spanning 100 kilometers (62 miles), but Russian forces are falling behind schedule on the flanks. In the coming months, they evidently won’t be able to reach Sloviansk from the east or Kramatorsk from the west, and terrain makes a frontal assault unlikely as well: beyond Vasyutynske lies a national park with high cliffs, and the Kramatorsk airport, perched on a high hill, overlooks the entire area.The assault on Lyman, on the northern bank of the Siverskyi Donets across from Sloviansk, has failed — Ukrainian forces pushed out the Russian assault detachments there. The advance on Sloviansk along the southern bank has run into Ukrainian positions at Mykolaivka. Meanwhile, Russian troops did manage to cross the river at Pryshyb, likely still only in small numbers. That bridgehead is dangerous for Ukrainian forces: from there, Russian troops could theoretically launch an offensive to encircle Sloviansk from the north and cut it off from supply routes running from the Kharkiv region.On the opposite flank to the west, Russian forces are still trying to capture Dobropillia. Russia’s Defense Ministry claims its troops have entered the city limits, though there’s no visual confirmation of that claim. Video footage suggests fighting is still confined to the outer approaches, but the Russian advance has picked up speed in recent days: Russian forces took Bilytske, a small town southeast of Dobropillia where fighting had dragged on for several months, and broke through the village of Shevchenko to the south, pushing toward Vodianske and Svitle.Zaporizhzhia regionIn 2025, the Russian “Vostok” group scored its greatest success of the war, capturing extensive territory at the junction of the Donetsk, Dnipro, and Zaporizhzhia regions and pushing far west along the front. It captured the city of Huliaipole that winter, after which its main forces launched an offensive toward the next Ukrainian “fortress”: the city of Orikhiv. To defend against Ukrainian forces in the north, the group’s commanders left only a thin screen of forces along the Vovcha River.In response to a breakthrough unusual for this stage of the war in its pace, Syrskyi redeployed reserves from near Pokrovsk to strike that weak northern flank of the Russian group.The first phase of the Ukrainian offensive that spring, involving an air assault corps of up to 20,000 troops, triggered a crisis in Russia’s defense. Russian commanders stopped the Ukrainian breakthrough — which had advanced 10-15 kilometers (6-9 miles) near the villages of Ternove, Berezove, and Novoivanivka — by redeploying forces from near Pokrovsk. Ukrainian forces never managed to cut the “Vostok” group’s main supply route, the Velyka Novosilka–Huliaipole highway, but the Russian offensive on Orikhiv effectively stalled.By early summer, the “Vostok” group had secured its rear near Ternove and resumed its offensive on Orikhiv. Syrskyi countered by redeploying additional forces from the Sumy region and launching new attacks on the northern flank along the Vovcha River, this time farther east along the line between Myrne and Andriivka-Klevtsove.In recent weeks, Ukrainian forces have pushed 10 kilometers (6 miles) south into Russian defenses, taking the villages of Piddubne and Novokhatske. But published videos suggest they haven’t yet pushed Russian forces out of Andriivka-Klevtsove and Myrne, which is making it difficult for Ukrainian troops to advance.The objectives of this Ukrainian offensive aren’t entirely clear, since there doesn’t appear to be any significant target in the immediate Russian rear in this sector. It’s likely an attempt to tie down the Russian forces defending the northern flank of the “Vostok” group so it can’t resume its westward offensive toward Orikhiv.Fighting continues on both sides in the sector between Huliaipole and Orikhiv. Ukrainian forces once again pushed Russian troops out of the eastern outskirts of Mala Tokmachka, as well as out of Vozdvyzhivka and Kopani — a village previously reached only by Russian reconnaissance, located just 8 kilometers (5 miles) from the main Ukrainian supply road. Russian forces, meanwhile, have stepped up activity near Ternuvate, trying to break through to the village of Pokrovske, a key logistics hub for Ukrainian forces on the northern flank.Ukrainian commanders now face a difficult decision: continue the relatively successful offensive at the junction of the Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia, and Donetsk regions, which is tying down a large Russian force, or redeploy those troops to help defend Kramatorsk, where the situation has once again turned critical.Interactive mapAt Meduza, we are committed to transparency about our use of artificial intelligence in the newsroom. The story you’re reading was written by one of our living, breathing journalists and translated from Russian using an AI model configured to follow our strict editorial standards. This translation process is the result of extensive testing and refinements to ensure our English-language coverage is timely and accurate. A Meduza editor reviews every draft before publication.If you find any errors in this translation, please contact us at [email protected].To read Meduza’s exclusive content in English, please subscribe to our newsletter.The Analysis Desk