Comprehensive Battlefront Breakdown: A Strategic Look at Every Front

Today, we will discuss the most interesting developments along the front line, focusing on Kursk, Kostiantynivka, and Pokrovsk.

Beginning with the Kursk sector, Russian forces have seen their momentum stall after early attempts to push along the northern line of settlements toward Sumy. Despite days of probing assaults and high casualties, these efforts have achieved little, with Russian troops increasingly being overwhelmed under relentless Ukrainian drone fire control.

This forced the Russian command to shift focus onto retaking Kursk itself, but this is undermined by the ongoing Ukrainian incursion into Belgorod, which continues to pull Russian forces and attention away from the sector at a critical moment.

At the same time, redeployments of critical drone units to other sectors in eastern Ukraine are also slowing down Russian movements. 

Now, over a month after failing to overrun Ukrainian positions quickly, Russian frustration is spilling over into their tactical decisions.

Ukrainian forces have turned Kursk into a fortified nightmare, constantly replenishing minefields via drones and maintaining precise fire control from the elevated ridge southeast of Guyevo, which offers visibility and control over the open terrain that Russian forces must traverse to advance. In one particularly telling episode of Russian desperation, a 3,000 kilogram bomb was dropped on a historic monastery situated atop the ridge. The strike caused surface damage but failed to destroy the underground complex, allowing Ukrainians to maintain their positions and continue disrupting Russian logistics and troop movements.

The inability to seize the southeastern ridge not only stalls Russian progress in pushing Ukrainians out of Kursk but also prevents any feasible push into Sumy from this secondary axis. With every failed assault, Russian forces lose both time and manpower, delays that could prove critical as Putin’s political deadlines continue to shift, putting increasing pressure on commanders to deliver results that remain elusive. While the situation around Kursk remains tense, Ukrainian forces are holding firm, leveraging superior positioning, drone coordination, and prepared defenses to stall the larger Russian offensive.  

Switching to the Kostiantynivka sector, Russian forces appear to be shifting tactics after repeated failures to advance in Toretsk and Shcherbynivka. Having found a weak spot in Ukrainian defenses southwest of Toretsk, they will most likely attempt to bypass the strongholds entirely by advancing through Kalynove and Sukha Balka. 

Russian troops have begun consolidating positions, establishing logistics hubs and drone relay points while preparing for an offensive toward the key road to Kostiantynivka.

This builds on their recent territorial gains in the area, with assaults already reported near Romanivka. Ukrainian forces holding the defense line have managed to prevent a full breakthrough, but pressure continues to mount. Enemy drone units reportedly redeployed from the Kursk front are now active in the sector, extending their reach and threatening Ukrainian logistics and rear positions with increasing frequency.

The risk of a deeper Russian push toward the south of Kostiantynivka is growing. Control of this area would also allow them to sever key supply routes into Toretsk. While Ukrainian forces remain dug in and highly resilient, this evolving axis represents a new challenge: a potential southern outflanking operation that, if left unrestrained, could compromise the stability of the entire defense of Toretsk.

In the direction southwest of Pokrovsk, Russian forces are attempting to push further west. They are aiming to reduce Ukrainian fire control over their supply lines, as this is one of the key reasons for their failure in the sector, particularly the constant strikes against their vehicles moving through Selydove. While Russia enjoys better logistics in this direction and can now occasionally launch assaults with armored vehicles, these attacks still rely heavily on routes that remain vulnerable to Ukrainian drone strikes.

The terrain presents a major obstacle here as wide-open fields make any movement immediately visible to Ukrainian surveillance, with drones and artillery quickly eliminating exposed units.

As a result, Russian progress has been limited to areas with natural cover. Notably, it took the Russians nearly two months and more heavy casualties to make incremental gains through the tree farm west of Novoielyzavetivka, despite using its landscape to shield advancing units. Unless Russia finds a way to negate Ukrainian observation and fire control, any broader offensive in the southeastern Pokrovsk sector is unlikely.

Overall, in Kursk, the Ukrainians continue to block all Russian attempts to bring the fight into the Ukrainian Sumy Oblast, to the immense frustration of Russian commanders.

Meanwhile, at Kostiantynivka, Russians have found a weak spot to exploit southwest of Toretsk and are now trying to establish their presence, putting the Ukrainian defenses in and around the town under pressure.

In the southeastern fields of Pokrovsk, Russians are trying to bypass the stalemate at Pokrovsk in a similar way, attempting to secure their flank and logistics from constant Ukrainian shelling, but are making barely any progress as Ukrainians continue to deny their efforts. 

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