Ukraine War Maps Reveal Ground Won, Lost This Week Amid Bakhmut Offensive

Ukrainian forces have made incremental gains in the southern sector of the front as Russia continues its offensive operations in the eastern Donetsk region. This is according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), which has mapped this week's situation on the ground.

The independent U.S.-based think tank said on Friday that Kyiv's forces had advanced on the east bank of Kherson region in the south. The Ukrainians continued their offensive in the Melitopol direction in western Zaporizhzhia, as well as near Bakhmut, further north in the Donetsk oblast.

Geolocated footage from Friday showed how Ukrainian forces had advanced further south under the Antonivsky (Antonivka) road bridge, around 4 miles south of Kherson City and less than 3 miles from Dnieper River.

The think tank said that Russian forces had conducted offensive operations along the Kupyansk-Svatove-Kreminna line on Friday but had made no advances. The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) said that its forces had captured unspecified positions in the Kupyansk direction over the past week.

The ISW map around the Luhansk oblast shows how, on October 22, Russian forces had advanced south of Pershotravneve, while, three days later, Moscow made gains northeast of Orlyanka.

The think tank said that Russian forces conducted offensive operations near Bakhmut and made confirmed advances on Thursday, with a map showing Russian forces had captured Vasyukivka to the northeast of the city.

The same graphic showed Ukrainian gains north of the rail line near Klishchiivka, from October 22, and east of the line near Andriivka, a day later, where Russia launched an offensive earlier this month. The fiercely contested town is on the front line and is the gateway to the city of Donetsk, which has been occupied by Russia since 2014. Russia has made confirmed advances in the area but at a high cost of troops and equipment.

A more in-depth map around Avdiivka shows Moscow's advances on to the waste heap north of the town on October 23, as well as Ukrainian gains a day later near Krasnohorivka.

Separately, Ukraine's Air Force reported on Saturday how its air defenses had shot down three out of four Iskander cruise missiles that had been launched at Dnipropetrovsk Oblast overnight, from Dzhankoi in Russian-occupied Crimea.

Also on Saturday, Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, the head of Ukraine's state grid operator Ukrenergo, told Voice of America (VOA) that Moscow's strikes against Ukraine's energy system had damaged around 70 large facilities last fall and winter. Many smaller ones in front-line areas had also been damaged by artillery strikes.

It comes as a third round of Ukrainian-backed peace talks opened in Malta, involving representatives from more than 50 countries, which Moscow has condemned as "a blatantly anti-Russian event".

Andriy Yermak, the head of Ukraine's presidential office, said this week that the event is "a powerful signal that unity is preserved around Ukraine."

Newsweek has emailed the Russian Defense Ministry for comment.