The Russian army was unable to encircle the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Kursk region, although it almost pushed the Ukrainian troops out of the area – In which other areas of the front is Russia taking the initiative?
The Ukrainian Armed Forces have almost abandoned the bridgehead in the Kursk region: only four small villages near the border, the Sudzha border crossing and the distribution station of the main gas pipeline, which has not been operating since January 1, remain under the control of the Ukrainian troops. The units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces managed to avoid a major encirclement by the Russian troops – and this is the only positive outcome for Ukraine from the battle for the Kursk region.
However, such an outcome of the battle does not satisfy the Russian command: it intends to cut off the Sudzha-Sumy road already on Ukrainian territory, so that the Ukrainian forces can completely withdraw from the Kursk region. On the front line in other parts of Ukraine, the initiative also returns to the Russian forces: the month-long Ukrainian counterattacks seem to have lost their momentum.
Such blows, especially near Pokrovsk, required the command of the Ukrainian forces to transfer reserves from other parts of the front. The Russian army is trying to take advantage of this: the Russian forces launched a major offensive west of Orekhovo in the Zaporizhia region.
Kursk
In recent days, the pace of the Russian advance has slowed as the front moves towards the border. Ukrainian forces now control two separate border bridgeheads: one centered on the village of Guevo and the other around the Sudzha border crossing.
A separate road leads to Guevo from the Sumy region, so the bridgehead is not dependent on the Sudzha-Sumy highway. Fierce fighting is taking place near it on both sides of the border. Guevo is protected by difficult terrain: the eastern approaches to it are covered by the Psel River, and there are many forests around where Ukrainian infantry is hiding.
West of Guevo, the Russian Armed Forces reached the state border several weeks ago, cutting off one of the roads leading to Sudzha. In the west, another Ukrainian bridgehead remains, located along the Sudzha-Sumy road. Russian troops have not yet managed to advance between Sudzha and the border beyond the village of Gogolevka.
Probably, according to the plans of the Russian command, a rapid advance to the Sudzha border crossing is not required. Russian forces plan to cut off the Sudzha-Sumy road on the other side of the border and force Ukrainian forces to retreat to Ukrainian territory. Russian troops have already captured the village of Basovka in the Sumy region, three kilometers from this road.
Judging by the geographical reference of numerous videos published from different parts of the Sudzhansky district, there are no large Ukrainian units surrounded in the Kursk region. However, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump continue to pretend that such an environment actually exists.
Toretsk
The Ukrainian counterattack on the Toretsk complex has stopped. Now units of the 8th Russian Combined Arms Army, transferred here from Kurakhovo, have entered the counterattack. Previous Ukrainian attacks were successful because they took place at a time when Russian forces were rotating: units of the 51st Army had left Toretsk, and the 8th Army had not yet managed to concentrate in the city.
There was no Ukrainian attack on the city: allegedly, most of the territory of Toretsk was a “gray zone”, the fighting for which broke out with renewed intensity with the arrival of the 8th Army. However, this is not the case: judging by previously published videos, Russian troops confidently controlled the center and north-west of the city in early February. Ukrainian positions remained in the Zabalka area in the southwest and in the village of Krymskoye in the northeast of the settlement of Toretsk.
Having lost part of the city center (as well as the villages of Leonidovka and Shcherbinovka in the northwest), Russian troops launched a counteroffensive in mid-March. It is difficult to understand the outline of the front line from geolocated videos. It is only clear that the fiercest battles are taking place in the area of the field in the center of Toretsk, where Russian forces managed to reach the rear of the Ukrainian defenders, as well as in Zabalka.
Russian troops launched attacks to the west (near Novobakhmutovka) and to the east (near Ozaryanovka) of Toretsk. Perhaps the Russian command now decided to bypass the city and reach Konstantinovka, rather than trying to recapture it.
Pokrovsk and Velyka Novosyolka
The Ukrainian Armed Forces continue counterattacks to the west, south and east of Pokrovsk. Previous attacks near the villages of Peschanoye, Udachnoye, Zaporozhye (between Pokrovsk and Kurakhovo) and the village of Kotlino made it possible to stop the advance of Russian forces on Pokrovsk. Now the Ukrainian forces are trying to push the Russian forces away from the city by attacking the villages of Lysovka and Shevchenko south of Pokrovsk. So far, the Ukrainian forces have not achieved much success: they have only managed to capture part of these villages.
To the east of Pokrovsk, a counterattack by the Ukrainian forces forced the Russian forces to retreat from the Pokrovsk-Konstantinovka road near the village of Elizavetovka. However, Russian troops continue to advance towards Konstantinovka south of this road.
In the south of Donbass, near the previously occupied regional center of Velyka Novosyolka, Russian troops continue their offensive along both banks of the Mokrye Yaly River. On the eastern bank, Russian forces captured the village of Dneproenergiya and approached the village of Vesyoloye. The overall goal is to reach the Donetsk-Zaparozhye road in the rear of Ukrainian troops, who continue to hold the western approaches to Kurakhovo.
Orekhovo
After a year and a half of calm, Russian forces have launched an offensive between the important city of Orekhovo and Zaporozhye. Part of the 128th Mountain Assault Brigade of Ukrainian forces, which was defending here, was transferred to the south of Donbass, which weakened the Ukrainian group south of Zaporozhye.
Russian troops bypassed the village of Pyatikhatki (the scene of heavy fighting in the summer of 2023) from the east, captured the village of Stepovoye and reached the village of Malye Shcherbaki. This offensive could bring Russian troops to the city of Orekhovo from the west, if Ukrainian forces do not send in reserves. Russian forces have also become more active south of Orekhovo, where they are conducting an offensive from the village of Rabotino to the north.
