Apr 21 — During the “Easter ceasefire,” the Russian army continued the attacks in Kharkiv Oblast reported Ukraine’s officials and military stationed in different sections of the frontline in the region to find out about their experience during so-called truce Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that the Russian side would cease all hostilities from 6:00 p.m As an example, on Easter afternoon, Russians attacked a five-story residential building with an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) in Kivsharivka village of the Kupiansk district, setting fire to 36 apartments, reported the local State Emergency Service. During the timeframe of the “ceasefire,” Zelensky said that Ukrainian troops would mirror Russia’s actions—open fire after being attacked. Viktor Trehubov, the speaker of the “Khortytsia” operational-strategic group of forces that covers part of the Kharkiv Oblast, said to “Suspilne” that the “ceasefire” seemed more like a “smoke break.” “Russian maneuvers look like assaults under the white flag It seems they really want to trigger a visual attack so that we think they are assaulting to make us attack them back,” said Trehubov “No one (from our military) counted on anything we’ve seen these “ceasefires” many times (since 2014) We didn’t conduct any assaults on Easter but responded to Russian attack attempts.” about 6 miles (10 kilometers) from the Russian border. said that while Russian troops refrained from attacking from artillery they used drones to attack the positions of Ukrainian forces during the “ceasefire.” They also used 30 hours to accumulate more of their forces Russians did so on other sections of the frontline as well — for instance, they tried to pull out remnants of destroyed military equipment from the river crossing in Donetsk Oblast that obstructed the passage for their machinery a city that’s 5 miles (3 kilometers) away from the Russian border the 42nd brigade said to Gwara that the Russians shelled their positions but didn’t conduct any assaults. “The enemy was accumulating their troops and preparing logistics We’re expecting the renewal of offensives,” Vadym Ivashchenko the 42nd brigade received an order not to shoot until 00:00 on April 20 “We did reconnaissance and monitored the enemy “The enemy’s cannon fire kept hitting Ukrainian positions and cities during the entire time of the so-called ceasefire Russian drones continued doing reconnaissance and attacking,” Yurii Fedorenko the commander of the strike drone battalion “Achilles,” said to Gwara Media about the unit’s experience on the Kupiansk axis. Fedorenko said that the Russian infantry gathered up to the zero line during the ceasefire armored equipment to [the zones where their forces were accumulating.] So de facto there was no truce,” Fedorenko said. Bohdan Petrenko, the head of communications for the 48th artillery brigade, said that Russians attempted to cross to the right bank of the Oskil River on the Kupiansk axis — and the attempt was stopped. “We have an experience of Russia violating ceasefire promises since 2014 so our military was constantly monitoring the enemy.” 115th brigade of the Armed Forces experienced quiet our intelligence and Russian intelligence were very actively working,” said the speaker for the brigade. Russians in the Lyman direction used these 30 hours to regroup DeepState analysts say that the Russian military wasn’t attacking where they understand that the “truce” can be used to set up and prepare assaults “We have to understand that Russian intent is to destroy the Ukrainian state,” Yurii Fedorenko said While Russia demands full control of four partially occupied regions of Ukraine as a peace deal condition Washington’s “peace plan,” according to the WSJ’s journalists establishing a neutral zone around the nuclear plant in Zaporizhzhia Commander from Achilles is sure that the “one-sided ceasefire” on Easter is how Putin “plays along” with Trump’s attempts to bring Russia-Ukraine war to a freeze The Russian President plans to use Trump as a guide that “will give him an opportunity to leave the economic isolation—lift sanctions,” Fedorenko believes. there’s no tool that would maintain a commitment to this ceasefire standing between the Russian Federation’s soldiers and our soldiers and making sure that there are no provocations from either side That Russia cannot realize its intent: to gather up more forces Putin-proposed Easter ceasefire ends with Russia not reacting to Zelenskyy’s proposal to prolong it to 30 days, multiple Russian attacks on civilian infrastructure, and intense fighting on the border of Sumy Oblasts. Authors: Yelizaveta Diachenko, Liza Bykova, Yana Sliemzina UPD from Apr 21, 6:02 p.m.: Names for speakers of “Khartia” and 42nd brigade added. Subscribe to news from Kharkiv, UkraineMost important stories from the frontline region Google Or Register from Google Or Website materials are permitted only with an active link to “GWARA MEDIA,” not lower than the third paragraph The use of digital platform content is allowed with textual attribution Content for documentary films and integrated products is permitted The site was modernized with the support of the European Endowment for Democracy in 2023 ' + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.webview_notification_text + ' " + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.redirect_overlay_title + " " + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.redirect_overlay_text + " This was reported by Oleh Syniehubov, Head of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration, on Telegram a guided aerial bomb strike hit the village of Kivsharivka in Kupiansk district A male paramedic was injured but refused hospitalization a FAB-500 bomb strike partially destroyed an apartment building and damaged ten more residential houses four FPV drone strikes damaged a private home and two utility buildings artillery shelling damaged three private houses a drone crashed into a reed area in open terrain A private home was damaged as a result of a multiple launch rocket system strike Outside the village of Shestakove in Chuhuiv district a Lancet drone strike reportedly ignited an excavator in a field an FPV drone strike caused a fire in a tracked excavator and ignited grass over an area of 20 square meters A 38-year-old excavator operator was injured and hospitalized Between Kupiansk and the village of Kindrashivka in Kupiansk district an explosive device dropped by an FPV drone (type being identified) injured two women four guided aerial bomb strikes reportedly hit the outskirts of the village two guided aerial bomb strikes caused fires in two garages and a car across 40 square meters Russian forces attempted an offensive once in the Vovchansk area on the Kharkiv front Ukrainian Defense Forces repelled three Russian attacks near Nova Kruhliakivka and Zahryzove a Russian drone exploded near a car on the road between Kivsharivka and Kupiansk Photo: Kharkiv Regional Military Administration While citing and using any materials on the Internet links to the website ukrinform.net not lower than the first paragraph are mandatory citing the translated materials of foreign media outlets is possible only if there is a link to the website ukrinform.net and the website of a foreign media outlet Materials marked as "Advertisement" or with a disclaimer reading "The material has been posted in accordance with Part 3 of Article 9 of the Law of Ukraine "On Advertising" No 1996 and the Law of Ukraine "On the Media" No 2023 and on the basis of an agreement/invoice Online media entity; Media identifier - R40-01421 This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page The Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor's Office wrote this in a post on Telegram "Under the procedural guidance of the Kupiansk District Prosecutor's Office of the Kharkiv Region a pre-trial investigation has been initiated into the commission of a war crime (Part 1 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine)," the statement reads the attack occurred on April 13 at approximately 12:00 and was carried out using an Uragan multiple launch rocket system The shelling caused damage to an apartment building and a 71-year-old man was injured and hospitalized a Russian drone struck the Kyivskyi district of Kharkiv damaging a kindergarten and several high-rise buildings Photo credit: Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office UKRAINE — “The water will get in.” Volodymyr circles his car with an attached trailer He doesn’t think his “Volga” will survive the upcoming Oskil crossing. “The water there reaches up to about your knees,” one of the volunteers tries “Don’t you have door seals?” another volunteers says his family—his wife Natalia and her father Serhii—does not have muchchoice The other path is increasingly targeted by Russian troops as Moscow tries to take the part of the Kharkiv region to the east of the Oskil River Ukraine’s Kharkiv counteroffensive pushed Russian troops out of most of the Kharkiv region in the autumn of 2022 they’ve been chipping away at the Armed Forces’ defenses trying to occupy the territory they were pushed from again Kupiansk is an important logistics and railroad hub for the entire region and was most useful to Moscow’s supply lines in the first months of full-scale invasion That’s one of Russia’s main targets. prodding for weaknesses in Ukraine’s defense with countless mobile groups and utilizing the advantage in firepower Russia managed to get close to the river in two large sections northeast and southeast of Kupiansk The military says Moscow’s overall plan for the region is to seize the entire left bank of Oskil. Local authorities announced evacuation from the Kupiansk district to the east of the Oskil River back in the spring of 2024—and Gwara Media joined volunteers from “Nezlamna” (“Unbreakable”) charity on an evacuation mission to the left bank of the Oskil River and talked to people deciding to leave or stay amidst frequent Russian attacks. After more than 2,5 years of going to the places Russia approaches to get people out of them Joke as they wait for their colleagues near the gas station tell the stories from previous evacuation missions. “We’re always late because some bastard is sleeping too long,” Slava Ilchenko a volunteer who just arrived at the gathering She’s one of Slava’s rescues from multiple evacuations—he couldn’t part with her after she jumped right onto his car’s passenger seat and refused to leave. “No one’s overslept today…” Oleksandr Pidhirnyy and their cars move through the smoke from forests burning because of Russian airstrikes at the Kharkiv region Airstrikes are not the only danger volunteers have to account for several senior women agreed to evacuate from Kruhliakivka We were driving to them and saw the petal mines thrown on the road by Russia there was barbed wire and TMs [ТМ-62M — Soviet anti-tank mines — ed.],” Slava says. Remote mining allows Russia to target civilians and prevent evacuation where their troops can’t reach That significantly complicates getting from the left bank of Oskil to safety the “Nezlamna” team couldn’t reach the women FPVs and other drones are constantly flying above our heads who’s going to help people to evacuate?” Oleksandr says. Russia also tracks volunteers’ accounts online The team says social media is a valuable tool to reach people who need help and establish trust Less than an hour after the team crosses the river and records a video report for their social media Slava finds that video on pro-Russian Telegram channels an organization that curates evacuation and humanitarian aid in the region clothes if they need any—and either assigned to a dormitory or provided with money for the tickets to the cities they’ve chosen to go to. Maria sells vegetables at the desolate farmer’s market in Kivsharivka Her colleagues scatter around from journalists but remain close People in places Russia targets often aren’t fond of being filmed afraid Russia will target the places they frequent or that their appearance in Ukrainian media will get them in trouble if Russia takes over their homes. There is a sound of shelling in the background where a Russian air strike destroyed a small shop to its foundations “The girls working there died in this attack,” Maria says Maria would leave if she was sure she and her husband would find work and proper housing in the next place taking seasonal jobs to Odesa and Carpathians to cook for local restaurants she’s not sure if they’d find work in Kharkiv and what she knows of accommodations Ukraine provides for internally displaced people (IDPs) also doesn’t encourage her to leave Maria tries to convince her husband to evacuate The couple have already lived through one Russian occupation. eggplants and other vegetables are presented on Maria’s stall though Maria says the harvest wasn’t good this year couldn’t use the pump to water the garden.” “We’ve never thought our senior years would be like that Volunteers say the fact people don’t want to evacuate early is one of the biggest obstacles to their work like when Russians mined the road to Kruhliakivka remotely it’s too late to get them by then. is that both Russia and local opportunists disrupt evacuation via misinformation Volunteers of “Nezlamna” often have to convince people evacuation is free that people leaving the left bank will not be abandoned on the outskirts of Kharkiv Such rumors circulate all around communities Russia endangers. “Locals aren’t giving us [their] phone number But we know that they charge 5,000 hryvnias for evacuation That business is flourishing,” Slava says. Before Maria from the farmer’s market shares her struggles a woman evacuating from Kupiansk-Vuzlovyi along with her grandma says that she plans to go to a city in the west of Ukraine after Kharkiv “I’ll go to Rivne… My kids live there plans to evacuate a few days later along with his dog Zhuk [“Bug” in translation from Ukrainian]. Russian shelling injured Oleksandr in the shoulder—he says he couldn’t sit Two weeks before he conversed with Gwara Media another Russian attack destroyed his country house in Novoosynove—he’s been living there since his wife died Oleksandr has recovered from last year’s injury everything I have been building for 40 years He survived two Russian strikes: the recent on Oleksandr’s house and the one on Oleksandr’s mother-in-law a Russian-occupied settlement in Kharkiv region northeast of Kivsharivka took the dog and walked for 10 kilometers to safety in one of the dorms for IDPs—receives pensions and works to earn a little extra money who lives on the outskirts of Kupiansk-Vyzlovyi and also can’t convince her husband to evacuate (“He says he’ll die of boredom there,” she shares One of the reasons everything burns might be Russian glide bombs They started using them often last year in the east of Ukraine played a significant role in the occupation of Avdiivka in Russia’s attack on the north of the Kharkiv region and the ground they’ve taken since in Donetsk Oblast There’s no way for Ukraine’s air defense to shoot them down except for targeting the aircraft from which they are launched with allies-provided weapons things will get worse on the left bank of Oskil—but she can’t abandon her husband she shares another reason that keeps him here They belonged to our parents and my husband’s sister and the sister and her husband left to live with their daughter in Kharkiv “It’s good that you’re still coming here,” Oksana says to volunteers “I always tell my husband—if they stop coming chats with her neighbors while her husband anxiously paces near their Volga and coos to their cats says they wouldn’t decide to leave if it weren’t for the fear of being forgotten. When Ukraine liberated the Kharkiv Oblast in 2022 “I was terribly afraid that they’ll abandon [the left bank] and won’t liberate us afraid that Russia will torture [this place] to death cars of the volunteer team go into the waters of Oskil Volodymyr and Natalia’s car with an attached trailer follows an Italian volunteer who came to Ukraine to help people affected by Russia’s war watches their: first the wheels on “Volga,” then the trailer’s wheels. When they reach the other side of the river Ludo smiles and lets out—barely noticeable—breath of relief. Slava Ilchenko still goes over to the left bank to evacuate people The Oskil crossing the team used in October is now closed for civilians and volunteers so Slava joinsUkrainian soldiers in their ventures to the left side it’s the only way to get there—and to get people and abandoned animals—to safety. Russian troops try to attack the crossing from two flanks but Ukraine has been repelling them so far Against the backdrop of Russia gaining more territory in Donetsk Oblast in the last months they sent one of their best brigades to push the Armed Forces beyond the river Ukraine will have to use Oskil as a natural line of defense—and counterattacks across the river as Ukraine’s learned from both the Kharkiv counteroffensive and Kherson liberation On November 28, Andrii Kanashevich, the head of the military administration of the Kupiansk district, said that the pace of evacuation from Oskil’s left bank had dropped. “There are no conditions for a full life on the left bank and it’s impossible to restore them because of the safety considerations And staying through winter without electricity Kanashevich said 1830 people—and no children—currently live on the left bank in three communities of Kharkiv Oblast Denys Klymenko, former reporter and videographer for Gwara Media, contributed to the article. Cover photo: Oskil River in Kharkiv region, October 2024 / Yana Sliemzina, Gwara Media Ukraine (AP) — Nine-year-old Artem Panchenko helps his grandmother stoke a smoky fire in a makeshift outdoor kitchen beside their nearly abandoned apartment block The light is falling fast and they need to eat before the setting sun plunges their home into cold and darkness They can feel it in their bones as temperatures drop below freezing And like hundreds of thousands of other Ukrainians they are facing a season that promises to be brutal Artem and his grandmother have been living without gas water or electricity for around three weeks ever since Russian missile strikes cut off the utilities in their town in Ukraine’s eastern Kharkiv region For them and the few other residents that remain in the complex in Kivsharivka bundling up at night and cooking outdoors is the only way to survive READ MORE: Russian airstrikes sever power, water access across Ukraine “It’s cold and there are bombings,” Artem said Sunday as he helped his grandmother with the cooking I’m sleeping in my clothes in our apartment.” Adding to the foreboding about the coming winter, Russian strikes on Monday and Tuesday in Kyiv, the capital, and several other Ukrainian cities by drones and missiles targeted power plants Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a tweet Tuesday that over the past week Russian attacks have knocked out 30% of his country’s power plants causing “massive blackouts across the country.” those who haven’t fled from the heavy fighting regular shelling and months of Russian occupation in eastern Ukraine are desperately trying to figure out how to dig in for the cold months Viktor Palyanitsa pushes a wheelbarrow full of freshly cut logs along the road toward his house the remnants of damaged buildings and the site of a 300-year-old wooden church that was leveled as Ukrainian forces fought to liberate the area from Russian occupiers said he’s gathered enough wood to last the entire winter he planned to begin sleeping beside a wood-burning stove in a rickety outbuilding and not his home since all the windows in his house have been blown out by flying shrapnel You can see the situation we’re living in,” Palyanitsa said quietly understating the dire outlook for the next several months Authorities are working to gradually restore electricity to the area in the coming days and repairs to water and gas infrastructure will come next a deputy with the Kharkiv regional government “Only after that will we be able to begin to restore heating,” he said Authorities were working to provide firewood to residents but had no timeline for when the utilities would be restored Palyanitsa was not waiting for government help He said he didn’t expect heating to be restored anytime soon but that he feels ready to fend for himself even once winter sets in because I can find wood and heat the stove,” he said Authorities in the Ukrainian-controlled areas of the neighboring, hotly contested Donetsk region have urged all remaining residents to evacuate, and warned that gas and water services in many areas will likely not be restored by winter ordinary Ukrainians are still living in thousands of homes that have been wrecked by Russian strikes with leaky or damaged roofs and blown-out windows that are unable to provide protection against cold or wet weather The threat of a winter without heating has even spread to other areas of Ukraine far from the front lines Russian President Vladimir Putin, angered and embarrassed by a Ukrainian strike on a key bridge to annexed Crimea, has intensified Russia’s bombing campaign targeting civilian energy infrastructure around Ukraine and leaving many cities and towns without electricity Sumy in the northeast and Vinnytsia in western Ukraine a group of men used a chainsaw to bring down a tree near a bus stop they warned an Associated Press reporter about the Russian land mines still hidden in the surrounding grass With so much of the area’s towns destroyed and modern comforts all but disappeared the drive for survival trumps any concerns about the preservation of what was before homes have become like rudimentary shelters from a medieval age where residents live by candlelight gather water from wells and bundle up to fend off the cold said she and her grandson have been sleeping in an abandoned apartment next door since all their windows were blown out by a Russian strike all the other windows were destroyed,” she said it’s hard to run between the apartment and where we cook Makeshift lean-to structures dot the overgrown courtyards of their apartment complex where residents gather to cook over fires One woman collected scraps of wood from a ground-floor apartment that was caved in by a Russian rocket strike Another resident joked that his home had become a five-room apartment after one of its exterior walls collapsed WATCH: U.S. pledges ‘action’ after drone attack on Kyiv toasted bread and heated a kettle of water over a fire to bring up tea to his disabled mother “I’m making tea for my mother on the fire but she only drinks a little bit to warm up for a short time.” Sevrukov’s mother sat under a blanket on a sofa piled with plates of spoiled food Zoya Sevrukova said she’d been bedridden for seven years and that she spends most of her time seated playing solitaire with a worn pack of cards Sevrukov said he’d asked a friend from Kharkiv to buy him an electric heater — just in case the power is restored It’s almost too much to even think about the deprivation that could lie ahead so we can live through this winter somehow,” he said © 1996 - 2025 NewsHour Productions LLC PBS is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization Subscribe to Here's the Deal with Lisa Desjardins Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker the Russian army attacked the Kivsharivka village in the Kupiansk district with a guided bomb “Russia damaged an ambulance. A paramedic was injured in the shelling, he refused hospitalization,” said Oleh Syniehubov In three years of full-scale war with Russia, eight medics died in the Kharkiv region Russians dropped a high-explosive aerial bomb (FAB-500) on Kivsharivka village The bomb severely damaged an apartment building and 10 houses Russia dropped an explosive from a first-person view (FPV) drone between Kupiansk and Kivsharivka Two women got injured in the attack and received medical help on-site Russia damaged one house from multiple rocket launchers (MRL) and three houses with artillery attack in Kupiansk city Four Russian FPV drones damaged a house and two farm buildings in Klynova Novoselivk village two guided bombs damaged four apartment buildings On April 14, the Kharkiv Oblast governor also reported that Russia killed four and injured four people in the Kharkiv region. This was reported by the State Emergency Service (SES) in Kharkiv region via Telegram "Eight garages and a vehicle burned as a result of the airstrike on Kharkiv region covering a total fire area of more than 240 square meters 50 garage units were damaged in this residential microdistrict of the frontline town of Kivsharivka Kupiansk district," stated the report Emergency workers from the SES and volunteer firefighters from Kivsharivka were deployed to extinguish the fire Preliminary reports indicate that no casualties were reported there were 22 fires in Kharkiv region last week due to ongoing hostilities the Russian army struck the village of Kivsharivka The shelling killed a woman of 74 years old 81 and 71 and a 74-year-old man were injured The condition of the victims is assessed as moderate “The bomb hit near a 5-storey residential building A neighboring 9-storey building was also damaged,” the statement said the Russian army hit a non-residential building in the village of Velykyi Burluk The building was damaged and a fire broke out a mortar attack damaged the building of a lyceum a critical infrastructure facility was destroyed by mortar fire Russian army attacks Kharkiv region with Shahed drones: industrial enterprise burns down The occupiers attacked Pervomaiskyi in Kharkiv Oblast Russia plans to move to the East of Kharkiv region – ISW This includes capturing the rest of Luhansk region and moving westward to the eastern part of Kharkiv and the Northern part of Donetsk regions Ukraine prepares for the second wave of counteroffensive – BILD. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy announces a new counterattack phase on the Russian army. KYIV, Ukraine – Bound for the battlefield, sounding harried and anxious, the Russian soldier placed a hasty phone call – to a Ukrainian military hotline “They say you can help me surrender voluntarily explaining that he was soon to be deployed near the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson Do you promise not to film me while this is happening?” the hotline operator calmly assured him he’d be given detailed instructions on how to safely lay down his weapon and turn himself in At a crucial juncture in an extraordinarily bloody war Ukraine’s military is focused on one task: removing Russian soldiers from the battlefield But faced with a foe whose ranks are known to be riddled with unwilling fighters Ukrainian military strategists realized there might be more than one means to that end aimed at providing invading forces with step-by-step information on how to abandon the ranks military-operated version in place since mid-September On Russian-language social media, Ukrainians have spread the word about the program’s website intended as a portal for the surrender-curious or their loved ones It has attracted more than 13.3 million visits – 7.6 million of those from Russian territory Russian soldiers also provide personal data through a chatbot on the encrypted messaging app Telegram – information Ukrainian authorities use to winnow down those who are serious about turning themselves in Citing security reasons, Ukrainian officials declined to disclose how many surrenders have been brokered via the program. But hotline operators field calls around the clock from Russians who are soon to be mobilized are in the midst of being deployed or are already on the battlefield coolly businesslike or floridly emotional – sometimes all of those in a single conversation this is not fake?” one Russian soldier asked “It is not fake,” the Ukrainian operator replied all active-duty service personnel with backgrounds in psychology is tasked with providing callers with clear while being alert to signs that the outreach might be a “probe” by Russian intelligence meant to elicit information about Ukrainian methods and intentions those dealing directly with would-be surrenderers try to “calm them down,” said Vitaly Matvienko a junior lieutenant who serves as spokesman for the program which is run by the department for prisoners of war I’m listening,” goes a typically low-key operator salutation in an audio sampling of recent calls provided by the Ukrainian military callers’ voices are distorted to shield their identities Hotline operators initially worked out of military headquarters in the Ukrainian capital but were later moved to a secret location because they are now seen as a high-profile potential target The military refused to make any operators available for interviews but said they are male and female a range of ages and all able to chat easily in colloquial Russian both sides are aware that the moment carries enormous risk for all involved it’s a very dangerous process,” said Matvienko improve the odds of everyone staying alive Russians who want to turn themselves in are told to wave a white cloth, remove the magazines from their guns, point the barrels to the ground and eschew body armor and helmets They are assured that in the event they want to be sent home in a prisoner swap their paperwork will reflect that they were captured the turret is to be turned in the opposite direction If it’s a group surrender – also a fairly common occurrence with a Russian squad often fearing retribution from commanders but agreeing to act jointly and surreptitiously – the highest-ranking soldier must identify himself If a surrendering soldier runs out of options for separating himself from his unit “We can coordinate with special units that will extract you safe and sound,” one operator told a worried caller Like so much in this conflict, the “I Want to Live” program employs high-tech methods and simple communication tools Russians facing deployment can communicate with the Ukrainian side using the Telegram chatbot they’re urged to procure and hide a basic flip phone – not a smartphone – and use that to call the hotline Ukrainians say they’ve heard from Russian soldiers already on the battlefield who learned of the hotline by word of mouth or from a scrawled-on slip of paper passed from hand to hand one of Moscow’s greatest advantages is the sheer number of troops it can throw into the fight Western military analysts say – which is why Ukraine is willing to try novel tactics to reduce those numbers In addition to the 190,000 Russian soldiers who took part in the initial multipronged invasion that began in February 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin last year ordered the mobilization of 300,000 more And another major mobilization is expected as Russia seeks to mount a spring offensive But despite a more than 2-to-1 Russian advantage in its standing military Moscow’s faltering performance has been blamed on troop quality Western military observers consistently cite poor morale substandard training and shambolic supply practices as key factors in a string of Russian battlefield routs last autumn “In order to snatch a victory of sorts from the jaws of defeat Putin must now rely on the overwhelming numbers provided by mass mobilization,” analyst Peter Dickinson wrote in a report last month for the Atlantic Council “This is a tried and tested Russian tactic Deploying thousands of untrained soldiers “to fight against battle-hardened and highly motivated Ukrainian troops could result in the kind of carnage that breaks armies,” he wrote some Russian troops apparently believed they would be welcomed by Ukrainians as liberators coupled with widespread shows of disdain and defiance from civilians Last autumn’s mobilization by Putin prompted a huge exodus of fighting-age men from Russia with hundreds of thousands settling in Turkey Kazakhstan and other nearby countries to avoid being conscripted Western analysts say it has become more widely known within Russia that Moscow’s commanders have scant regard for the lives and welfare of their own troops January and February saw an uptick in Russian-language social media postings about harrowing field conditions and chaotic leadership – accounts widely echoed in months of intercepted calls home from deployed Russian troops In mid-February, a British military intelligence assessment said Russian forces were suffering what appeared to be the highest casualty rates since the early weeks of the war – many occurring near the hotly contested town of Bakhmut While Ukraine has suffered heavy attrition as well Russia lost exceptionally large numbers of troops and armored vehicles in a failed attempt last month to storm the Ukrainian-held eastern town of Vuhledar – an apparently bungled opening volley in a much-vaunted Russian spring offensive Ukrainian officials hope that such setbacks will serve a dual purpose: inflicting a costly defeat and prompting Russian soldiers to recognize the sometimes suicidal role they are expected to play in human-wave attacks on fortified Ukrainian positions which have been a recurring feature of recent fighting “With their own eyes, they see they are nothing more than cannon fodder,” Matvienko said. “They see one of their comrades being ordered to walk into a minefield to find a path can galvanize a desperate sense of self-preservation “They realize this is real and not some war movie,” he said “And the thought has to occur to them: ‘How do I save myself?’” used an expletive to describe the prospect of sudden death in battle Give directly to The Spokesman-Review's Northwest Passages community forums series -- which helps to offset the costs of several reporter and editor positions at the newspaper -- by using the easy options below Gifts processed in this system are tax deductible Get breaking news delivered to your inbox as it happens © Copyright 2025, The Spokesman-Review | Community Guidelines | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | Copyright Policy buses began to arrive in Crimea carrying Russian conscripts called up during the mobilization training is apparently going to consist of a couple of days sleeping on cots and whatever tips they could pick up in transit Those troops immediately got a ceremony—a “departure ceremony”—as they were directed to the front lines. There are other reports of similar troops arriving in the Donetsk area Considering how Russia’s attack on Bakhmut has sometimes consisted of simply sending wave after wave of unsupported infantry up the slope at entrenched positions these men should do just as well as those with years of experience over the last two days fighting in Ukraine has gone like this: Ukraine is expanding bridgeheads at Dvorichna and Kupyansk Ukraine reportedly has two major moves underway which is along a major highway that goes to a border crossing into Russia Fighting there has been described as intense over the last two days but Ukrainian troops have reportedly entered the western part of the town and found a large cache of that most vital Russian supply: stolen washing machines That bridgehead is also pushing to the south where it’s reportedly reached the town of Lyman Pershyi It’s unclear if they are seeing much pushback from Russia along this route but the goal is clearly to connect this bridgehead with the one 15 kilometers south at Kupyansk. That Kupyansk bridgehead as been the scene of some very serious fighting and brought in reinforcements even as Ukraine was getting set up on the east side of the river and preparing to move Ukrainian sources in this area are still citing operational security and giving only scant reports of activities in the area but it’s clear there were a pair of large battles one in the southeastern area of Kupyansk-Vuzlovyi (the location of an absolutely enormous rail yard) and another to the east at Petropavlivka Russia apparently suffered some very major losses of troops in these fights and this is another area where Russian forces were reportedly rushed to the front in infantry waves without having adequate support from armor or air. That Ukraine now controls these areas is made pretty certain by the fact that both locations have shown up in the morning list of areas shelled by Russia for the last two days the Kupyansk force is now reported to be moving south also known as the town that for nearly a week kept saying there were no Russian troops present Whether Russia got any forces into place before Ukrainian forces arrived isn’t clear At a pre-war population of 20,000, Kivsharivka is about the same size as Lyman and it seems to have so far made it through the war with a lot less damage One other thing is interesting about the Ukrainian advance from Kupyansk: the P07 highway. If Ukraine is also continuing down the P07 to the southeast there’s pretty much nothing in the way until they get to the area of Kyslivka and even that’s far enough off the road that it could potentially be bypassed There are no real indications that Ukraine is about to do a speed run down the P07 … except that this is the same road that Ukraine used on its three-day crossing from Balakliya to Kupyansk And 50 km down that same highway is Svatove which is now reportedly Russia’s major mustering point in the region the forces that have crossed at Dvorichna and Kupyansk could meet up and continue to push south Or they could each continue to expand their bridgeheads Or they could mount up and fly down the P07 into Luhansk … and Russia has to be prepared to defend any of these options Ukraine has continued to expand the liberated area north of Lyman That includes both pressing up the highway directly east of the Oskil River and widening the liberated area to the north But the most important thing that’s happened may have been reported in just the last hour—so recently in fact that I’ve just had to remake this map and redo several paragraphs of text Russia apparently reinforced positions in Lyman and pushed back into Drobysheve with some regular Russian army forces to back the mercenary group that had been holding the northern edge of that town While Ukraine apparently did eventually move Russian forces out of Novoselivka (locals there report that Ukraine has set up checkpoints and is checking IDs in the town) Russia actually seemed to control more of Lyman than it did over the weekend In spite of Ukrainian forces fighting between Nove and Zelena Dolyna and the capture of major rail lines in the area Russia still had one good highway running from Kreminna straight into Lyman on the east That well-paved road has allowed them to keep Lyman supplied I had actually spent a good chunk of the morning looking at the territory between Zelena Dolyna and Torske writing several paragraphs about what Ukraine would need to do to press down to this point from the north and west and actually encircle the Russian forces And then Ukraine built a new pair of pontoon bridges across the Siverskyi Donets River at Bilohorivka and now has scouting forces near both Torske and Kreminna all under what appears to have been perfect operational security I’ve never been happier to get out the editing pen and start slicing If reports from both Ukrainian and Russian sources are correct we’re not going to be waiting days or weeks for that last road into Lyman to be cut That road is cut right now. Russian forces have reportedly abandoned the forested area east of Torske and Yampil. but considering the way Mud Season has moved into the area and reports that Ukrainian forces have managed to begin attacks on Stavky there seems to be very little opportunity for Russian forces in this area to escape. Unless Russia can get to the area with enough strength to relieve pressure on that eastern road Yampil, and Drobysheve are effectively encircled assuming that these reports of a significant Ukrainian force crossing the river and reaching Torske are correct there are reports that Ukraine has liberated Nyzhche and that Ukrainian troops have entered the southern half of Borova Russia has reportedly been preparing a new defensive line running roughly along that red line from Borova to Serhiivka any preparations made there could be worthless Some preliminary—and totally believable—results of the “referenda” in occupied territories It’s expected that Vladimir Putin will give the final results when he speaks on Sept. 30 but 🇷🇺-installed officials have announced the preliminary results of their “referendums” in occupied Ukraine:- 97% in Kherson region - 98% in Zaporizhzhia - 98% in “Donetsk People’s Republic”- 98% in “Luhansk People’s Republic” Russian mobilization meme pic.twitter.com/SVECr3ZLdm We have an even shot at keeping our House majority, but only if enough Democrats turn out to vote. Click to start writing Postcards to Democratic-leaning voters in targeted House districts today. I really appreciate how Ukraine seems to have these signs in even the smallest towns for confirmation Also notice how bad the mud is getting with days of rain This is why those paved roadways are becoming more and more important and why capturing towns is likely to become more difficult in coming weeks Ridkodub 🇺🇦1/1062/ pic.twitter.com/CYIVjE1H2O Ukraine seems to have the overall initiative right now but that might change with more rain and a bunch of RU cannon fodder It's possible we might hit a stand still if we get a lot of rain and RU conscripts manning the defensive lines 👌 pic.twitter.com/aJoPwRjY5v Have both video and images geolocated to Shandryholove More interesting are reports on Russian Telegram that Dibrova Here’s one of those puzzles that makes me wish someone had really used a larger list when selecting names for Ukrainian towns both Russian and Ukrainian sources are reporting that the Ukrainian forces who crossed the Siverskyi Donets River have liberated Dibrova Most analysts seem to be assuming that the Dibrova in question is the one to the right that would go a long way to bolstering the idea that the new forces crossing the pontoon bridge have moved in force against the area east of Yampil threatening Russian access to Lyman (I’ve colored this map along that assumption) have had this town under Ukrainian control for over a week But at least one of the most reliable analysts has said he believes this is the Dibrova that was in the original messages and that everyone has jumped the gun looking to confirm the activity east of Yampil I’ve tried comparing the messages to how these were described by Telegram and military bloggers when Russia was coming the other way back in April but found both of them described as “Dibrova There might be good confirmation of Ukrainian activity along this critical highway The source is Russian war reporter WarGonzo and remember the sources are less-than-reliable usually this would be a major collapse of Russian positions north of Lyman That entire Ukrainian salient didn’t exist two days ago. 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