Ukraine Maps Show Counteroffensive Push as Key Village Retaken

Ukraine on Wednesday claimed the liberation of the southeastern Donetsk village of Urozhaine after several days of intense fighting, marking a much-needed battlefield success after two months of a costly counteroffensive operation that has thus far failed to break through Russia's defensive lines.

Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar wrote on Telegram on Wednesday: "Urozhaine liberated…Our defenders are entrenched on the outskirts."

Newsweek has contacted the Russian Defense Ministry by email to request comment.

Urozhaine is a small village but part of a group of rural front line settlements liberated by Ukrainian troops since their counteroffensive began in early June. Kyiv's gains have been meager, though Ukrainian officials have repeatedly said that territorial progress is only one part of its effort to fatally erode Russian military capabilities.

Urozhaine is some 5 miles north of the first defenses in Russia's so-called Surovikin Line; a network of fortifications under construction since late 2022 and named after General Sergey Surovikin, who oversaw a consolidation of Russian-occupied Ukraine during his stint commanding the invasion force.

Though much fighting likely remains before Ukraine can reach and breach the line, Ukrainian and Russian milboggers on Telegram have noted the local logistical significance of Urozhaine. The Institute for the Study of War has described Ukrainian success there as "tactically significant."

Earlier this week, the ISW noted that "the Russian information space is seizing on Ukrainian gains in Urozhaine to highlight poor Russian morale and command challenges in the area."

The commander of the pro-Russian Vostok Battalion this week lamented the loss of Urozhaine, and complained that promised reinforcements never arrived to help his fighters defend the settlement.

Urozhaine sits on the T0518 road running from Velyka Novosilka south to the outskirts of occupied Mariupol, on the Sea of Azov coast. The Surovikin Line sits across the road, but if Ukrainian troops can penetrate the Russian fortifications they will look to push south to the sea.

Success there—whether reaching the coast or not—will pose fresh problems for Moscow's troops occupying the "land corridor" from Russia's western border to occupied Crimea. A deeper Ukrainian advance could cut the Russian army in southern Ukraine in two, while a shallower one could at least bring sensitive military sites in Crimea into range of Kyiv's long-range weapons.

The ISW's Tuesday night bulletin noted "discrepancy between Russian claims" over the fate of Urozhaine, which it said "likely indicates that Russian forces have largely withdrawn from the core of the settlement to positions on its outskirts. However, Ukrainian forces have likely not yet established full control of central or southern Urozhaine, where limited skirmishes for control are likely ongoing."

Elsewhere, the ISW noted continued Ukrainian advances in southern Zaporizhzhia Oblast around the town of Robotyne, which like Urozhaine has been at the heart of recent Ukrainian offensive actions. Robotyne is close to the Surovikin Line south of Zaporizhzhia.

Here, Ukrainian forces are hoping to break through Russian defenses and drive towards Melitopol, whose exiled Mayor Ivan Fedorov has described as "the key to Crimea."