Russian forces are continuing their offensive in western Donetsk Oblast and made new progress towards the village of Oleksiivka.

Russian forces advanced from positions on the northwestern approaches to Andriivka, and moved along the tactical heights, capturing a treeline and reaching the intersection with another treeline.

DRGs are also active in the area.

+ ~0.61km² in favour of Russia.

In the Siversk direction, the over 2-year-long battles for the small village of Bilohorivka finally came to an end, with Russian forces completing the capture of its ruins.

Russian forces advanced in two main areas here. In the main part of Bilohorivka, Russian forces cleared the remaining western streets, where Ukrainian forces were hiding in the basements of houses.

Further south, the remaining Ukrainian dugouts at the "white mountain" were cleared, with Russian forces capturing it, and the adjacent chalk quarry. They also moved and captured some positions in the forests to the southwest in the process.

+ ~3.08km² in favour of Russia.

Russian forces continue to make rapid progress north of Velyka Novosilka in the Komar direction and have captured a large area south of the village of Skudne.

They advanced in two areas. The main advance was in the west, where Russian forces moved with 4 attack vectors. Three treelines were quickly occupied, along with a nearby forest plantation, all of which are in the low-lying ground.

They then occupied a series of defensive fortifications, before using them as a springboard for further advances north towards Skudne. Russian forces quickly moved along the treelines in the low-lying ground and reached the southern outskirts of Skudne, and occupied even more defensive fortifications. The village is now in the grey zone.

From there, Russian forces moved west along a forest plantation and gained a foothold at a treeline intersection on the opposite (northern) side of the gulley there.

Further east, Russian forces pushed into the forest east of Novoocheretuvate, which was already in the grey zone. They were able to capture it, as well as a nearby forest plantation next to the Mokri Yaly River.

The fact that Russia is so easily breaking through Ukrainian defensive lines shows that Ukraine is suffering from a severe lack of manpower in the Komar direction. They simply do not have enough soldiers to fill these pre-prepared fortifications.

+ ~7.69km² in favour of Russia.

Don't you just love it when you track the movement of the missiles, use common sense to figure out how many were shot down, and people still won't believe your figures?

And then the Ukrainian Air Force will come out with a ludicrous claim with 0 evidence (as usual) and some people will immediately believe it.

For the record, based on my estimations, 10 Kh-101 cruise missiles were used, 3 shot down. 3 Iskanders were also used, none were shot down. Go through the different Ukrainian monitoring channels, line up the reports and you will see this for yourself.

Meanwhile, Ukraine claims 7 Kh-101s were launched, with 6 shot down, and completely ignores the Iskanders.

In western Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Russian forces have been making slow progress, and are clearing the village of Pyatykhatky.

Pyatykhatky is one of the last villages that Ukraine captured during their 2023 counteroffensive which they still at least partially hold.

After a Russian armoured column landed troops in the eastern houses of the village, the zone of control was expanded, as Russian soldiers slowly cleared the ruins of houses towards the village centre, where they consolidated their positions. They then went on to attack further west and have almost completely captured the village.

The main Ukrainian positions are in the small forest west of Pyatykhatky. Due to the possibility of Ukrainian forces counterattacking from this forest, Russian forces have created organised defensive positions in the settlement to repel them.

Additionally, the frontline was corrected east of the village of Zherebyanky, with Russian forces confirmed to be in full control of a treeline there.

+ ~1.35km² in favour of Russia.

Increased Ukrainian aviation activity has been noted.

Su-24s, which can carry Storm Shadow cruise missiles, are flying south from Myrhorod air base towards the southeastern regions of Ukraine.

Meanwhile, other aircraft (possibly F-16s) are active in the Kursk direction, and are flying over Sumy Oblast. They may launch JDAMs in the near future.

IDF Spokesperson:
The Air Force is now attacking vigorously in southern Syria as part of the new policy we have defined of liberating southern Syria - and the message is clear: We will not allow southern Syria to become southern Lebanon.

In the northern part of the Kursk salient, Russian forces advanced and captured the village of Pogrebki.

Russian forces from the 34th brigade advanced south from their newly established positions in the northern part of the settlement, and began clearing Ukrainian positions in the central part of the village. Fierce fighting took place for the school building and church, which were eventually captured by these soldiers. They then pushed further south and began clearing remnants of the Ukrainian garrison who were still stationed in the basements of the southern houses.

Additionally, Russian forces levelled out the frontline to the west, capturing two forested areas which were previously in the grey zone. Ukrainian forces also withdrew from their positions in the windbreaks on either side of the railway line east of Pogrebki, to less dangerous positions further south. For now, this section of the railway line is in the grey zone.

+ ~3.34km² in favour of Russia.

According to the financial times, Ukraine has agreed to a mineral deal with the U.S. after they dropped their toughest demands, including the demand of 500 billion being paid from minerals in return for military aid.

Zelensky will reportedly travel to Washington to sign the deal in the coming weeks.

Over the past few days, Russian forces have been advancing in the Kupyansk direction and captured a large area in the northern Ukrainian Oskil bridgehead.

Russian forces advanced southwest along the tactical heights, capturing a series of Ukrainian trench fortifications and strongholds. Once the rest of this section of the tactical heights were seized, Russian forces were able to attack through the low-lying ground, bypassing the village of Stepova Novosilka from the north.

Additionally, Russian forces advanced down a trench line next to a treeline in the north, reaching the southern end of it.

This restarting of offensive operations, and these quick successes will significantly weaken the Ukrainian defensive lines on their northern Oskil bridgehead and threaten the capture of Stepova Novosilka.

+ ~15.4km² in favour of Russia.

In Toretsk, Ukrainian forces counterattacked a couple of days ago, launching an attack deep into Russian lines in the city.

After recapturing the rest of the Toretska mines, Ukrainian armoured vehicles moved through the private residential area and reached the stadium, where infantry took up positions in one of the 5-story buildings. The rest of the assault group was destroyed.

+ ~0.09km² in favour of Ukraine.

Ukraine is not a strategic ally of the US but instead is a source for resources.

If the fact that they probably just handed over a large section of their rare earth materials to the US without receiving any (known) security guarantees or long-term commitments in return isn't a sign of desperation, then I don't know what is.

Both Russian and Ukrainian forces have been making progress in the Novopavlivka direction, taking up positions in the village of Uspenivka.

The back-and-forth fighting continues for Uspenivka. Ukraine brought in reserves and began counterattacking, recapturing the centre of the village (more than what is shown in blue on the map). Russian forces then counterattacked and recaptured a few positions in the houses in the southern part of the central street. Artillery is very active on both sides.

+ ~0.56km² in favour of Ukraine
+ ~0.07km² in favour of Russia.

Russian forces advanced in the Novopavlivka direction, and recaptured positions north of Preobrazhenka.

Russian forces advanced west through the southern part of the orchards and captured positions there. They also gained a foothold at the northern end of two perpendicular treelines, one of which leads directly to Preobrazhenka.

+ ~0.63km² in favour of Russia.

Russian forces advanced in Western Donetsk Oblast, and entered the eastern part of Kostyantynopil.

After failing to attack from their positions in the southern part of the village, Russian forces began attacking from the east, along the highway and gained a foothold in the eastern houses. This foothold quickly expanded, with Russian forces moving to the next street over, pushing the northeastern part of the village into the grey zone.

Ukrainian forces remain operationally encircled in the northwestern part of the settlement.

+ ~0.79km² in favour of Russia.

The Hamas-aligned Al-Nasser Salah al-Deen Brigades announced that they will be releasing the body of an Israeli hostage on Thursday.