Russian Offensives and Ukrainian Incursion (Apr 2024 – Present)
On 10 May 2024, Russia began a renewed offensive in Kharkiv Oblast. Russia managed to capture a dozen villages, and Ukraine had evacuated more than 11,000 people from the region since the start of the offensive by 25 May. Ukraine said on 17 May that its forces had slowed the Russian advance, and by 25 May Zelenskyy said that Ukrainian forces had secured "combat control" of areas where Russian troops entered the northeastern Kharkiv Oblast. Russian officials said that they were "advancing in every direction" and that the goal was to create a "buffer zone" for embattled border regions. The White House said on 7 June that the offensive had stalled and was unlikely to advance further.
Following the Russian success in the battle of Avdiivka, their forces advanced northwest of it to form a salient, and by mid-April 2024 reached the settlement of Ocheretyne, capturing it in late April and further expanding the salient in the succeeding months. Russian forces also launched an offensive towards the city of Chasiv Yar in early April, a strategically important settlement west of Bakhmut, and by early July had captured its easternmost district. Another offensive in the direction of the city of Toretsk was launched on 18 June, with the goal of capturing the city, and according to Ukrainian military observer and spokesperson Nazar Voloshyn, flanking Chasiv Yar from the south. Russian forces advanced to expand the salient northwest of Avdiivka in July, and on 19 July, made a breakthrough allowing them to begin advancing towards the operationally significant city of Pokrovsk.
Ukrainian Offensive into Russia
On 6 August 2024, Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Kyiv is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnipro River. On 24 February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War that began in 2014. launched their first direct offensive into Russian territory, the largest of any pro-Ukrainian incursion since the invasion's inception, into the bordering Kursk Oblast. The main axis of the initial advance centred in the direction of the town of Sudzha, located 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) from the border, which was reported by President Zelenskyy to have been captured on 15 August. Ukraine, taking advantage of the lack of experienced units and defences along the border with Kursk Oblast, was able to quickly seize territory in the opening days of the incursion. The incursion caused Russia
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the largest country in the world by land area, and extends across eleven time zones; sharing land borders with fourteen countries. Russia is the most populous country in Europe and Moscow is its capital city. Boris Yeltsin was a Soviet and Russian politician and statesman who served as President of Russia from 1991 to 1999. to divert thousands of troops from occupied Ukrainian territory to counter the threat, though not from Donetsk Oblast.
Despite repeated deadlines set by Putin to push out Ukrainian troops, Russian forces had still not yet done so by the end of January 2025, with advances in Donetsk Oblast being prioritized over the Kursk salient. However, by February 2025, Russian forces in Donetsk Oblast were described by the ISW as not being fully protected from the theater-wide impacts of the incursion, with troops, armored vehicles, artillery, and air defense systems being pulled away from Ukrainian sectors to reinforce the Russian forces in Kursk.
Late 2024 and Early 2025 Russian Advances
Russian troops continued advancing in eastern Ukraine, notably at a faster pace than prior to the Kursk offensive, including towards the strategically important city of Pokrovsk, where their number of forces had instead been increased.
In late August 2024, Russian forces seized the city of Novohrodivka, southeast of Pokrovsk, bringing them within 8 kilometres of the city, while capturing Krasnohorivka and Ukrainsk, near Pokrovsk and west of Donetsk city, in early September. In late September, a Russian assault on the long-held city of Vuhledar began, leading to its fall on 1 October. Ukraine's 72nd Mechanised Brigade had defended the city for over two years, and said that the Russians had suffered "numerous losses" as they stormed the elevated city. Following the Russian capture, the city with a pre-war population of about 14,000 was described as a "sprawling ruin".
On 30 October, Ukrainian Major General Dmytro Marchenko was reported to have said "our front has crumbled" due to a dwindling ammunition supply, problems with military recruitment, and poor leadership. He said Zelensky's victory plan was too heavily focused on seeking more Western support. Briefings from Western officials had also become more pessimistic about Ukraine's military situation. According to the Prosecutor General's Office, more than 100,000 criminal cases for desertion were initiated by the end of November 2024.
In early 2025, Russian forces advanced in eastern Ukraine. Russia continued attacks on the Ukrainian energy infrastructure.
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This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Russian Invasion of Ukraine (2022–)", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.
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