Russian forces are advancing in the Donetsk oblast, according to reports, as maps showed the latest state of play on the front line in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region.
Pro-Ukrainian Telegram channel Politika Strana said on Wednesday that Moscow’s troops had made “significant progress” in the Vuhledar, Pokrovsk-Kurakhove and Toretsk directions.
“To the east, near Kamyanske, Russian sabotage and reconnaissance groups have become more active,” the post said, adding that the to the west Russians had advanced north of Vuhledar, which was captured earlier this month.
This October 7, 2024, map from the ISW shows the state of play in the Donetsk region. There are growing fears of a Ukrainian collapse on this part of the front.
Institute for the Study of War
The X account Ukraine Control Map, which tracks the war’s latest developments, posted on Tuesday a graphic that showed some of Russia’s advances.
It said that Russian forces raised the flag just east of Siversk, “indicating large advances that are odd if taken at face value,” it said next to the map, adding that, Moscow’s troops “raised their flag in Zhelanne Pershe, near Hirnyk” and that there were advances in the Toretsk direction.
Daily Ukraine map thread for Tuesday 8th October 2024
Highlights: Interestingly, Russian forces raised the flag in Hryhorivka and Verkhnokamyanske just east of Siversk, indicating large advances that are odd if taken at face value. We can’t tell if the Hryhorivka forces advanced… pic.twitter.com/6l6depEXBI— Ukraine Control Map (@UAControlMap) October 9, 2024
It comes amid growing concerns about the potential collapse of the Ukrainian front, as Russia continues its push towards the strategic town of Pokrovsk, whose capture could see a breakthrough by Moscow further west and reinforce its attempt to capture the entire Donetsk oblast.
Ukrainian journalist Volodymyr Boyko, who is fighting with Ukrainian forces, wrote on October 3 on Facebook: “The collapse of the army has reached such a scale that no measures will help, there are simply no people at the front.”
Meanwhile, in its most recent update, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said Russian forces had reportedly pushed west of Donetsk city and seized half of Maksymilyanivka.
Its map, published Monday, of the terrain east of Pokrovsk illustrates how Russian forces have advanced southwest of the city of Novohrodivka, southeast of Ostrivske and seized Tsukuryne, according to Ukrainian and Russian sources.
Damage in the town of Kurakhove, located near the front line, in the Pokrovsk district of the eastern Donetsk region on October 8, 2024. Russian forces are continuing to advance in the Donbas region, according to the ISW.
ROMAN PILIPEY/Getty Images
Newsweek has contacted the Ukrainian defense ministry for comment.
Russia is also continuing to hit border regions in Ukraine with grenade launchers, drones and guided bombs, Ukrainian authorities have said.
A total of eight communities in the northeast Sumy Oblast were hit in 22 separate attacks throughout Tuesday, killing at least two people, according to the Kyiv Independent.
Moscow has stepped up its strikes against the region since Ukraine launched a cross-border incursion into Russia’s Kursk Oblast in early August, with which it shares a 245-mile border.
Kyiv claims to control around 500 square miles of the Russian region and the ISW said Monday that Ukrainian forces have continued with assaults in Kursk in the Glushkovsky district west of the main Ukrainian salient, but did not make any confirmed advances.
