Ukraine retakes 26 settlements, over 600 sq km in southeast

Ukrainian forces have retaken 26 settlements and more than 600 square kilometres of territory in southeastern Ukraine during a counteroffensive around Oleksandrivka that lasted more than six months, Ukrainian military authorities have said.

According to them, the liberated settlements include 12 in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, 10 in Donetsk Oblast and four in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Caliber.Az reports, citing Euronews.

Kyiv made clear that the operation in the Oleksandrivka direction was aimed at disrupting Russia’s spring-summer offensive and driving Russian forces out of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, where Moscow had sought to establish a buffer zone.

Ukraine’s Airborne Assault Forces Command remarked that its troops have regained more than 745 square kilometres of territory.

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), which monitors the conflict using open-source intelligence and mapping, estimated the area recaptured at about 626.69 square kilometres across the Oleksandrivka direction and the northern part of the neighbouring Hulyaipole sector.

The think tank cautioned that its methodology “likely underestimates Ukrainian advances.”

ISW analysts described the operation as evidence that Ukraine retains the ability to conduct coordinated, mechanised counterattacks after more than four years of largely static and attritional warfare.

The US-based think tank attributed Ukraine’s gains to several factors, including improvements in operational planning, a sustained effort to suppress Russian air-defence systems, intensified strikes against Russian logistics, Ukraine’s advantage in tactical drone warfare and the abrupt cutoff of Starlink connectivity for Russian forces operating inside Ukraine on February 1.

ISW said the fighting around Oleksandrivka has also created pressure elsewhere along the front, forcing Moscow to decide whether to reinforce its positions in the area or divert troops and equipment to other offensive operations. The challenge has been compounded by a decline in Russia’s recruitment rate.

For comparison, ISW estimated that Russian forces lost about 233.74 square kilometres across the entire front during the same six-and-a-half-month period, while capturing or infiltrating approximately 382.98 square kilometres of new territory.

The disparity, the think tank said, makes Ukraine’s localised gains around Oleksandrivka particularly notable.

By Bakhtiyar Abbasov